I forgot to ask a question in the last chapter again…oh well, on with the story. I'm very pleased with how this chapter turned out, make sure to drop me a review and let me know what you think.

"Te Amo"

Chapter 14

Pov- Julie

"Could you driver faster?"

Ranger glanced at me through the rear-view mirror and I felt the large RangeMan SUV pick up speed.

"We'll make it Julie." Bobby said confidently from the back seat. We were all decked out in SWAT gear racing down the road, towards an old airplane storage facility. The building was mostly unused, manly it was a place for local rich families to store their private planes when they weren't using them. Hector had found it and after a quick call, we found out that not only, was one of their planes registered under the Lynch family, but they also had a working runway.

Steph was on the phone in the front seat, filling in Morelli as he mobilized the TPD to help us with the take-down. We'd probably beat them there since we had a head start, but they'd be able to cut through the red lights. I peeked over my shoulder and grinned at the army of black car's following behind us.

Col. Lowry was in the seat next to me, his calm face reminding me a little bit of Ranger. At first we'd suggested that the retired Col. stay back at RangeMan. He'd shot us down almost immediately and asked for a vest.

I understood his reasoning for wanting to come with. He loved Shilo, almost as much as I did. We all wanted to get Shilo and Ryan back unharmed. I looked out the window at the setting sun and prayed we weren't too late.

As we pulled into the drive that led up to the building, I could just make out the sounds of police sirens behind us. The cavalry was coming in fast. Ranger stopped and spoke quickly with a young man who was in charge of opening the gates.

When he refused to let us in, without clearing it with his boss, I felt my temper snap. I yanked the gun from my hip and leaned over the center console making sure to point it right between his eyes.

"Listen here you little prick. You are interfering with a police investigation. You hear those sirens?" I asked nodding back down the way we'd come. TPD was getting closer and the sirens were obvious in the otherwise quiet lot.

He nodded, his eyes locked on the barrel of my gun.

"That is our back up." I said sternly, "Now you're going to open this gate and let us in without wasting anymore of my time. Lives are at stake here, yours included. Which one of these planes belongs to the Lynch family?"

He raised an eyebrow at me. "You are with the Lynch party?" He asked. "I already checked all of their cars in."

I launched myself forward so I was practically kneeling in Ranger's lap and grabbed the boy by the caller of his shirt thought the open window. "Which Plane?" I repeated dangerously. "The whole lot of them are wanted for murder and kidnapping, tell me or I'll charge you with assisting them and see to it that you hang before TPD."

His eyes went wide as I spoke and he pointed into the compound. His hand shook and a drop of sweat rolled down the side of his face. "Their inside, take a left, their plane is in the last garage on the right." His voice shook. "It's the only bay in operation today so the door will be open. You can't miss it." He leaned back and hit the button to unlock the doors. "Don't shoot me."

I let him go, but kept my gun pointed at him. "Keep this door open so the police can get in when they get here. Send them to the same place, if you're lying to me, I'll hurt you."

Someone grabbed the back of my pants and hulled me into the back seat. Ranger hit the gas as soon as I was out of his way and I slipped to the floor of the car without my seat belt on. Bobby was leaning over the back seat looking at me

"Are you crazy?" He asked. "You're going to traumatize that kid."

"I got us the information we needed." I snapped back sharply.

Lester laughed from his place. "I wish I had a picture of his face. I bet he wet himself. Remind me too never get between you and Shilo."

"There's the garage." Steph said. I climbed into my seat and leaned forward to look out of the front windshield. All of the garages were large gray buildings with giant sliding doors on the front to let the planes in and out.

The last garage was the biggest of them all, reminding me more of a warehouse than anything else. The front doors were thrown wide open and we could all clearly see the pod of cars lined up inside. A handful of people were standing near them and they all turned to look as we pulled up.

"The planes already running." Col. Lowry said. "Get your boy's to park in front of it so it can't leave."

Ranger whipped into the garage and stopped hard, right in front of the small white plane. The rest of RangeMan seemed to get the idea and pulled in near us, creating both a barrier for the plane and a wall of cover for us, since I could already see men drawing guns.

"This is gunna get messy." Lester said, flipping the safety off his gun.

Ranger nodded once from his seat and pulled out his own gun. TPD squad cars were pulling in around the black RangeMan cars, their lights flashing, and I watch Detective Morelli climb out of the front one. Ranger opened his door.

"Everyone in place." He said, speaking into the mic hooked to his ear. All around us the SUV's started opening and Rangeman employees started getting out.

Ranger looked back at me as I opened my door. "Please stay with the car." He said. "I know you want to help, but your ankle will get in the way if you need to fight."

I opened my mouth to protest, but the look he gave me stole my words away. He was worried about me, and as much as I didn't want to admit it, he was right. Plus, he'd said please.

I nodded. "Alright." I'd stay as long as they didn't need my help.

He didn't say anything else and I moved out of the way as Bobby and Lester, joined the group outside. I moved into the front passenger seat and kept the door open so I'd have a full view of what was happening.

Pov- Shilo

I'd never heard anything in the world that sounded as good as the wall of sirens outside the plane. Julie had found us and she'd brought her friends. Roy went up front with the pilot and I could just make out the sounds of their voices as they argued.

"Ram through them!"

"Sr. I can't get enough momentum in the garage, the vehicles will just stop us. Worse they'll probably mess up the nose of the plane and we won't be able to take off at all."

"You can't get around them?"

"I can't turn while were still in the garage or I won't make the door. You'll have to get the car's to move out of the way."

Roy came back looking only a few shots short of murderous. He spoke quickly with Keith and John. RangeMan and TPD had trapped the plane. Their only options were to try and fight so they could move the car's, or run.

"We're outnumbered." Keith said on a growl. "If we hadn't wasted so much time chasing them around the warehouse we'd be in the air already."

They continued to argue and over the roar of the squad cars outside I could hear someone on a megaphone order everyone out of the aircraft with their hands up. It sounded like Morelli. I leaned closer to Gavin so I could look out the window and couldn't hide the grin on my face. I spotted Ranger, Steph, Bobby and Joe Morelli all outside along with what looked like the entire staff of both TPD and RangeMan.

A hand clamped around my arm and I was tugged from my seat. John held me close to his chest and pressed his gun to my side again. "So we give them what they want in exchange for freedom, if they don't listen we kill them."

"They won't deal with us." Keith said. "We need a distraction so we can fall back."

Everyone on the plane drew their guns and I felt a weight settle in my gut. These guys weren't going to go down easy and I was going to be right in the middle of a gun fight, unarmed.

Amos opened the door and shouted down to the police that they were coming out.

"Put her in front." Roy said, nodding at me. Then he looked over my shoulder at John. "You lead."

John wrapped his arm around my neck and held me against his chest like a shield. "Alright Lassie," He said in my ear. "You're going to behave, or I'll put a bullet in your pretty little brain."

There wasn't a doubt in my mind that he'd do it.

My arms were still cuffed behind my back as John lead us forward. Moving slowly so we didn't trip each other. He got us into the doorway and Amos hit a button to drop the stairs. It was slow going on the stairs and I could hear the rest of the group filing down behind us. My attention was split, half on the stairs so I didn't pitch forward and break my neck, half on the group of people in black, looking for Julie among them.

Once we reached the bottom of the stairs John and his men pulled back leaving me out in the front. I caught sight of Col. Lowry amongst Ranger's men and for just a moment felt the corners of my mouth pull down. I was still mad at him, I had the right to be upset. However, it was hard to forget that this was the man who'd taken me in and raised me, when he was here risking his life for me. When this was all over the two of us were going to have to have a nice long chat.

"Let the girl go." Morelli said over the megaphone.

John shook his head and whispered in my ear again. (Tell them we'll exchange you and your brother for our freedom.) His Celt was flawless and for the first time I noted a hint of Welsh in his accent.

I shook my head, unwilling to do even one more thing this bastard ordered of me. "You speak English, tell them yourself." What's the worst he could do? Shoot me? He was probably going to do that anyway.

He shook me a bit and repeated. "Tell them."

"Coward."

He hit me, his free hand going to my hair as he yanked the curls hard to hold me in place. "You will do as I say." He ordered. I licked at the new split in my lip, ignoring him.

Realizing that I wasn't going to budge, he turned his attention back to the police speaking up for himself. "We offer a hostage exchange in return for our freedom."

"That only happens in the movies." Morelli replied. "Where's the boy?"

John's only reply was "He's alive."

If Ryan wasn't in the group with us down here that meant they'd left him on the plane and for that I was glad. He was probably safer there for now.

John and Morelli continued to stand off, neither one giving the other what they wanted and after a while I let my attention wonder. Several members of Ranger's team had spread out discreetly during the negotiation. I couldn't see them, but I was willing to bet he had a few men around behind us too.

Ranger caught my eye as I swept them over the warehouse again. His gun was already up, but as I watched he took slow aim right over my shoulder. Was he nuts? He kept a hold of my eyes and nodded his head slightly to the side, signaling me to duck to the left. Like me, he'd seen that talking was going to get us nowhere. He better be a good shot.

I took the deepest breath I could with my busted ribs and prayed that I was reading his body language right. John's arm was back around my neck, but he'd loosened his grip since we'd been standing here for awhile. Until this moment I'd been mostly cooperative, so maybe he felt confident that I wouldn't try to run again. John was crazy, and stupid. Worked for me.

I moved fast, catching him off guard since surprise was the only thing I had to my advantage. I dipped to the left, ducking my head under the gun John had been holding to me. He instinctively fired and the bullet flew past my hair, causing my ears to ring. I shoved an elbow into his gut, moving purely on instinct and adrenalin. Once I'd shoved him back another step and loosened his hold on me some more, I threw myself to the left and ducked to the ground as more gunfire rang out, the blasts echoed in the warehouse.

My ears were ringing and people were yelling. I didn't feel any pain so I hadn't been hit yet, hopefully. A body collapsed next to me and I had a moment of panic before I recognized it as John, a neat little bullet hole right in the middle of his forehead.

It felt like the world was moving in slow motion as I risked looking up. John's brothers and their men were pulling back fast, while they opened fire on TPD and RangeMan, who'd all dropped back to take cover behind the vehicles.

I felt a hand grab me just above my elbow and then we were moving. Whoever had a hold of me, practically dragged me farther into the warehouse as everyone took off, scattering like roaches in all directions. I could hear lots of yelling and the occasional gun shot.

I twisted and kicked out at my captor. A man's voice grunted as I caught him in the thigh and then Amos had me up against the wall, a hand on my throat. He sneered at me, "You are more trouble then you are worth." He said, waving his gun around.

"Then why grab me?" I retorted, trying to kick him again.

"Just following orders, Beautiful." He said. "Boss doesn't care about your brother anymore, but he needs you alive."

I was guessing that by 'Boss' he meant the eldest brother, Roy O'Donnell. So far I'd only ever seen Amos around when Roy was calling the shots. The warehouse was full of noise and I prayed that, if I could slow us down enough, someone from RangeMan would find us. We'd only gone a few more paces before I heard the one voice I hadn't wanted to find us.

"Stop right there!"

Amos twisted around holding me in front of him as a human shield just like John had. Julie was standing a handful of yards away, having just stepped around a pile of crates. Like the rest of RangeMan, Julie was decked out in black swat gear, including a vest. There was a boot on her bad ankle and she had a gun leveled right at us, a scowl on her beautiful face.

"Go away little girl." Amos called. "Your friend and I are going for a plane ride."

Julie smirked. "You aren't going anywhere. This whole place is surrounded. You'll never even get outside. Even as we speak, the rest of your family is being round up and carted away like dogs."

Julie took a step forward and Amos mirrored her move by stepping a pace back. Julie narrowed her eyes. "I recognize you." She continued darkly. "You've been causing us a lot of grief this past week."

Amos smirked. "You got lucky in the ally." He said. "I would have rung your sweet little neck."

There were some loud footsteps coming down the same row of crates Julie had come from and we all paused momentarily to watch as Gavin emerged his own gun drawn. He'd started with his gun pointed at Julie but upon looking over our group he lowered it slightly.

"What are you doing?" Amos asked. "Grab her, let's take them both. He nodded at Julie."

The glare Gavin tossed us would have made me pause and I didn't scare easily. "You don't get to order me around Amos." He said darkly. "I don't take orders from you."

"What is this?" Amos demanded. "John was right; we should have just killed you as soon as they released you from that prison. I knew you'd turn traitor on us."

Gavin raised his gun again and took aim right for Amos. "I'm not the traitor here." He said. "You turned on the family Amos. You should have known I'd come after you. My sister's too good for you. I'll never let you lay a hand on her again."

"Your sister's lucky to have me." Amos shot back. I didn't even know Gavin's sister, but the tone of his voice made me want to slug him.

"Hey!" Julie shouted out, firing one round into the air. "If you two want to go talk somewhere more privately we'd be happy to get out of your way."

Amos fired a round at Julie, causing her to leap aside. "Stay out of this!"

"Let the girl go." Gavin ordered.

Amos never got the chance to respond. Gavin opened fire and I hit the dirt faster then I'd ever moved in my life. I felt white-hot pain tear into my shoulder and knew I'd been hit, but thankfully the bullet had missed anything more important.

I rolled away from Amos as the three holes in his chest leaked all over the floor. A moment later I was rolled onto my back and Julie was kneeling above me, brushing hair away from my face and checking for a pulse. "Shilo! Shilo, are you ok?"

I shrugged, then winced. "I'll live."

Then her lips were on mine. The kiss was short, but hot until she moved and bumped me in the side. Pain flared up in my chest and I winced. She pulled back with an apologetic grin and slowly brushed another string of hair away from my face. "I would have regretted not doing that." She said, reminding me of the last time I'd gotten to kiss her in the back of O'Donnell's van.

She helped me sit up against some boxes and I spotted Gavin standing near us with his gun still up.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

He shot a small smile my direction. "I got what I wanted." He said easily. "Amos will never get the chance to hurt my sister again. I am, however not foolish enough to believe that I will get out of this garage without being arrested. I might as well make sure the two of you get back to your friends unharmed."

Julie smiled. "I knew you were a good guy." She said.

"No, I'm not." Amos said. "But, maybe this will make up for a few of the things I've done in my life. At the very least I am hopeful that my family will no longer live under the rule of the O'Donnell clan. My children will have a better life then I did."

He pulled a key out of his pocket and tossed it to Julie, who undid my arms. I rubbed at my sore wrists and let Julie help pull me to my feet, careful of my bleeding shoulder. She wrapped an arm gently around my waist and I gladly leaned into her as we hobbled forward.

Gavin handed his gun over to Julie and helped us find the shortest route back to the main warehouse. Men in TPD uniforms were standing over a row of men all cuffed and shackled, lying on the ground. We'd only just stepped into the open garage space when Lester and Bobby appeared like shadows. They both leveled guns at Gavin.

"Get away from them." Bobby ordered.

"Nice and slow." Lester added.

Gavin put his hands up and took a step away from us and in the background, I could see more people approaching us as our presence was noticed.

"He's good Bobby." Julie said, sliding the gun Gavin had given her to him. "He helped us. This is Gavin."

"I recognize him." Bobby said stiffly, "I still want him to back away, very slowly."

Gavin did as asked and was taken away by Lester and another uniformed TPD. Bobby helped Julie sit me down and then he started looking over the fresh gun shot in my arm. "This will heal fast." He said. "It didn't hit the bone. Is there anything I should look at right away?"

I shook my head. "My ribs are messed up, but I'll live."

"Do you know where Ryan is?" He asked. "We haven't found him yet."

I was on my feet and running before he'd finished speaking. I'd forgotten to ask about Ryan. I could hear Julie call my name, but I didn't slow down to wait for her. Bobby caught up to me easily at my slower pace and followed me into the plane with his gun drawn. It was empty.

I threw myself at the back closet door and yanked on the handle forgetting that it was locked. "Shilo, stop." Bobby pulled me back a step and shot the lock off.

The door jumped and I tore it out of the way. Ryan looked up at me once it was open and I almost laughed. He had my little knife between his teeth again and was, unsuccessfully, trying to unlock the cuffs that held his hands together.

"I was wondering when you were going to come and get me." He said sarcastically, "You didn't forget about me did you?"

Bobby pulled Ryan out of the closet gently and set him up against the wall, unlocking his hands. "Are you ok?" He asked.

Ryan shrugged. "Who wants to know?"

I offered introductions. "Ryan, this is RangeMan's medic Bobby Brown. I told you about him. Bobby this is my brother Ryan."

A knock on the wall behind us announced the arrival of more people and I turned around in time to see Ranger, Steph and Julie all come into the plane. Bobby was looking at the lump on Ryan's head and I did more introductions.

"There's an ambulance waiting for both of you outside." Ranger said, everyone else who was injured has already been moved out."

"I'm going to ride with them." Bobby said. "They'll both need X-rays and I want to check on the others."

I was sitting in one of the back plane seats and Julie slid into the seat next to me. She had a cloth in her hands and she tied it around my bleeding arm for me. I smiled gently when she looked up at me. The corner of her mouth turned up and I felt confident that she wasn't mad at me for the mess I'd helped make of this investigation. Given the chance to talk, I had a feeling we'd be just fine.

She leaned forward and gently touched my swollen eye. I pressed my cheek into her palm and took a moment to enjoy her soft skin and the light scent of orchids I could smell coming off her hair. When I looked back up at her, she had on a full-blown grin.

"I love you." I told her, amazed at how easily the words came. I did love her; I'd loved her since day one.

She gently kissed my temple. "I know," She said softly. "I love you too."

When she made to pull back I grabbed the collar of her shirt and pulled her too me. This kiss was much longer, much hotter and involved a lot more tongue. Had we been alone, and I'd been in better shape, I'd have had her naked already.

We broke for air as someone cleared their throat behind us and I think we both blushed. Steph was smiling, but Ranger and Bobby both looked like they weren't sure what to make of the pair of us. Ryan broke the silence by laughing.

I raised an eyebrow at him and he nodded at Ranger's disapproving face. "Start kissing up little sis."

I locked eyes with Ranger again and froze, not sure what I should say. Thanks for saving my life? I'm sorry I almost killed your only daughter. Would you mind if I striped her naked and made her scream?

Alright, so I'd never have the balls to ask that last one. Who would?

"Say nothing right now." Ranger said holding my gaze. "We need to get you both looked over at the hospital. We'll all talk once this has settled down."

I nodded and let Julie and Steph help me down the stairs and out to the last waiting ambulance. Bobby loaded Ryan into the back with me before climbing in himself. Julie was going to ride over with Ranger and Stephanie.

One of the paramedics insisted on hooking me up to oxygen. Next to the ribs, and the gunshot wound, they seemed to be most worried about my eye. I tuned them out as best I could only answering medical questions when they asked me directly. Bobby had most of my information already on file from my last ER visit though RangeMan.

"Who else got hurt?" I asked, once the man poking my eye declared there was nothing more they could do until we got to the hospital.

"I don't know all of the details." He said. "Detective Morelli took a shot to the arm. Another detective got hit twice in the leg." He paused, and then added. "The Col. took a couple of hits too. I didn't get the chance to look him over myself. I'll check on his condition for you when we arrive."

"Did he look ok?" I asked. "Do you know where he got hit?" I was mad at the man; That didn't mean I wanted him to die.

Bobby shook his head. "I don't know enough to give you many answers. I know one of the bullets grazed his neck so there was a lot of blood when I looked. He was wearing a vest. I wouldn't worry about him just yet."

I nodded along and kept quiet for the rest of the trip. Once we arrived, Ryan and I were loaded onto stretchers and wheeled off to different rooms for evaluation. Bobby left to check on the others, promising to come find me later.

Pov- Julie

I watched until the ambulance with Shilo was out of sight before turning back to the warehouse. All of the men who'd been caught were loaded into car's and most of them had already been taken away. I spotted Gavin standing outside of a squad car with Steph's friend Eddie. I wondered over to them, since there was little I could do to help with the clean up.

Gavin smiled when I stopped at his side. "I never got the chance to ask how your ankle is doing. What did your medic say about it?"

"Just a bad sprain. It'll will heal just fine."

"Good," He said. "I am glad."

"What are you guys doing?"

Eddie nodded to the clip board in his hands. "Mr. Lynch here is helping us name the members of the O'Donnell family who were caught today. He is however being very stubborn when it comes to the rest of them."

Gavin smiled. "I will say nothing that will implement my own family. You're going to have to work for the rest of the information you require."

"Family above all else is sacred." I quoted. "Don't waist your time Eddie."

Eddie rolled his eyes and stuck Gavin in the back seat of his squad car. On my request he left the window down so I could continue to talk with him.

"Are you armed." Eddie asked.

I pointed to the gun on my hip. "Yep, I don't think I need to worry about Gavin attacking me." I said. "You've even got him cuffed."

"I'm not taking any chances with you." Eddie said. "Your daddy scares the crap out of me." He added with a chuckle. "and Stephanie is even more terrifying."

"Will I see you at diner this Friday?" I asked.

He nodded as he walked away. "Count on it."

I waited until Eddie was out of earshot before turning back to the car. I leaned against the window and smiled at Gavin. "Thanks for your help earlier. I wasn't sure how I was going to get Shilo away from that man."

Gavin frowned. "His name was Amos."

"He was the one who attacked Shilo in the ally right?" I asked to clarify my guess.

Amos nodded. "Yes, very proud of himself for it too. It was the necklace he got off Shilo that let the O'Donnell's learn of her true identity."

"Do you know where it is?" I asked. "I'd like to get it back to her."

He shrugged. "Probably it's in his pocket where we left him. He was always carrying it around."

I thanked Gavin one more time before excusing myself. It took me a couple of minutes to find the right path to the location where Gavin had shot Amos. There was a Detective near the body and after a quick version of the story; he checked Amos's pockets for me.

"Is this it?" He asked, pulling out a length of silver chain.

I nodded. "That's it, how long until I can get it from you?"

He set the pendent down next to the body and snapped a few photo's before slipping it into a plastic bag. "I'll send it right in to get processed. Shouldn't take too long to get back to you, this case is winding up fast."

"I'd like to be the one to give it to her."

He nodded. "I can arrange that."

I thanked him in advance and went off to find Ranger. He and Steph were leading the RangeMan side of the investigation. Michael O'Donnell was one of the people who'd been caught in the raid so RangeMan was going to be getting their bond money on him after all.

"You want to leave." He guessed when I stopped by his side.

I nodded. "I want to go check on them."

"We're just about done here." He said. "Why don't you and Steph go to the hospital now. You can keep me informed on anything important Bobby tells you until I can get there."

I agreed and dragged Stephanie to the closest RangeMan SUV. Unfortunately my bandaged right foot meant I couldn't drive so I stuffed her into the driver's seat.

It took us half an hour to get back to the hospital without the advantage of emergency lights. Steph sent Bobby a text as we walked in and we got the room numbers for RangeMan employees from a woman at the front desk.

"Several of these patents are currently being treated so you might not be able to see all of them right away." She told us.

"That's alright." Steph said. "Bobby's up there with them, we just want to be nearby."

Bobby was waiting for us when we got upstairs.

"Slow down Niña." He said, snagging my arm as I tried to move past him towards Shilo's room. "She's not even in there right now. Doctor took her and Ryan off for X-rays. She's probably got a couple of broken ribs."

"How are the others?" Steph asked.

"There good. Col. Lowry was taken into surgery as soon as he got here. He's the only one I'm unsure about."

"Did the Doctor think he'd make it?" I asked.

Bobby led us to a small sitting room near most of the RangeMan rooms. He sat us both down and poured us cups of coffee. "The Doctor was sure he could repair the damage, but the Col's vitals were very unstable. There is risk of seizure during the operation due to his age and a preexisting high blood pressure problem. He took a slug low in his shoulder and another sliced his neck. A third bullet grazed his arm, but that one is minor in comparison."

"Has Joe been seen to yet?" Steph asked.

Bobby nodded again, sitting down with his own cup of coffee. "He got a couple of stitches and a band-aid. I told him you were here so he'll probably stop in before he takes off. All of the TPD officers who were scraped up have been cleared. Detective Mason's leg is broken in two places, he is the worst."

We sat around for another hour, waiting for news. Bobby made a few rounds harassing nurses and checking in on who he could. Razor and Blaze joined us first, but Ranger was only twenty minutes behind them.

He sat down between Steph and myself and for the first time I noticed how tiered he looked. We'd all be running none stop for over a week and it was clearly catching up with all of us. I smiled when Steph kissed his cheek and filled him in.

"I've sent most of the guy's home." Ranger said once she was done. "Some will probably stop in tonight, but I think most will wait until tomorrow."

Steph nodded. "We should call in some contract workers for the next few days. Give everyone the chance to rest up. We've been running the boy's pretty ragged lately."

"Naw," Blaze said confidently. "We're tough, we can take it."

"Speak for yourself." Razor added with a yawn. "I could sleep for a week."

I nodded along, but said nothing. This last week had been of the most interesting in my entire life and we were finally getting to wrap all of the crazy up. The next few days would be full of police statements and paperwork. After that, Razor's idea of sleeping for a week sounded great; that or a nice, hot, six hour bath.

There was a soft knock on the door frame to get everyone's attention. "Julie," Bobby said. "Shilo's been moved into her room for the night. They doped her up though so you'd better hurry if you want to catch her before she falls asleep."

I leaped from my chair and hurried after him. Shilo's room was your standard hospital room. White walls with light blue trim. There were a few watercolors on the walls and a TV in the corner which someone had turned off. The shades on the window's had been left open reminding me that it was the middle of the night and that I hadn't slept in almost two days.

The thing that caught my attention though was the gorges head of flame red hair. Shilo smiled softly when I sat down next to her and I quickly weaved our fingers together.

"How are you feeling?" I asked.

She shrugged a bit. "Strong pain meds." She said. "I don't feel anything."

I squeezed her fingers to see if she could at least feel me holding her. It took a couple of seconds but she squeezed my fingers back and sent me another small smile. "I can feel that."

"Good."

"Are you ok?" She asked. "I saw your boot earlier."

I nodded. "I'm in way better shape then you are." and boy was that the truth. Her arm was wrapped where she'd been hit. I could see a wrap around her torso to keep her ribs in place. One of her knees was in a brace as well as her left wrist. Then to top it all off she was covered with bruises and cuts and her swollen eye was one of the worst I'd ever seen.

"I must look a mess." She said with a chuckle having watched me look her over.

I leaned forward and gently kissed her temple; since it was one of the only places, I could find that looked unharmed. "You look amazing."

She chuckled softly again. "I'm sleepy." She said.

"Go to sleep then. I'll be right here when you wake up." I promised.

"You don't have to sit here with me all night." She said softly, her words slightly slurred. "Go get some rest."

"Honey, wild dogs couldn't drag me away from this room."

She smiled again at my comment, then I watched as her eyes dropped and her breathing evened out. I meant every word of what I'd said, as soon as her room was empty I intended to crawl into bed with her.

I glanced over my shoulder and found both Steph and Ranger leaning against the far wall watching us.

"I'm not leaving." I said sternly.

Ranger shook his head. "I won't ask you too. I've spent a number of nights in that chair myself." He said nodding to the lounge chair on the other side of the hospital bed, where visitors usually sat.

"I seem too recall you spending most of those nights in the bed with me." Steph added with a little grin. "He usually waited until the nurses were done for the night, but sometimes they'd come in and chase him off." So great minds really do think alike.

I smiled at the image of some brave nurse telling Ranger to go back to the chair when Steph was in the hospital.

"In my own defense," Steph added quickly. "It's been a long time since I've had to stay here overnight and the last trip wasn't my fault."

"It almost never is Babe."

Steph came over and kissed the top of my head. "If you're interested Bobby said Ryan's in the room next door. Although, he's probably asleep by now."

I shook my head. "I can check on him later. I don't want to leave her right now."

She nodded. "I understand that." She turned and gave Ranger a kiss. "I'm going to go check on the boy's. They're spending the night with my folks and I want to see for myself that they didn't blow anything up."

Ranger chuckled and walked her to the door. Then he came back in and sat down in the lounge chair. I stayed in my spot, holding onto Shilo's hand and resting my head on the bed near her hip. The comfortable silence, accompanied with Shilo's gentle breathing, was about to put me to sleep when Ranger spoke.

"She really does love you."

I glanced up at him and then looked over at Shilo. Under the bruises, she looked comfortable. I brushed a lock of hair off her face and smiled when she leaned into my fingers. "I told you she did."

"Love is hard." He said.

"Not if you're with the right person." I countered.

"It's going to take some time for the guys to accept her again." He said. "They don't forgive easily."

"They'll get over it the first time she kicks Lester's ass in the ring again."

He chuckled at that and said. "Maybe your right. No one's blended into the group that quickly since we found Razor."

"Maybe it's a sign." I said.

He nodded. "Maybe your right." He repeated. Then he stood up and laid a kiss in my hair before letting himself out. Once he was gone, I stood up and assessed my options. I really wanted to lay with her, but I wasn't sure how to move her without hurting her and there wasn't enough room. In the end, I pulled the rocking chair over near her head and laid back in it with my feet up on the bed near hers.

It felt like I'd just closed my eyes when someone woke me back up by tugging on my arm. "Julie, wake up, come on quickly now."

I groaned, but opened my eyes to find Bobby standing over me. "What'smater?" I slurred. He helped me to my feet and started leading me out of the room. I blinked my eyes under the bright fluorescent's in the hallway and dug in my heels.

"Bobby?" Why were we leaving Shilo's room?

"It's Col. Lowry." He said. "He had a seizure like we were afraid he would and it doesn't look good. He wants to talk to you, now."

"Why me?" I asked picking up my speed a bit. Bobby's legs were longer than mine were and I practically had to jog to keep up with him.

"Because Shilo's in a medically-induced sleep and can't be woken right now. He asked for you second."

Bobby stopped outside a door down the hall and motioned that I should go in ahead. "He wanted to speak with you alone."

"Is he dying?" I asked bluntly.

Bobby nodded sadly. "There's nothing more the doctors here can do for him. Go quickly."

I opened the door and stepped inside, thrown off for a moment at how different this room seemed compared to Shilo's. The walls and the bedding were the same color, but with the light's dimmed and the different monitors all beeping it felt much heavier, darker.

Col. Lowry was lying in his bed. He glanced at me when I sat down and smiled softly. "Thank you for coming."

How did one respond to that in this setting? Saying something like 'anytime' felt careless as this man I hardly knew lay before me broken.

"I need you to do something for me." He continued before I had to think of a reply.

I nodded. "Can I get you anything?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No, is Shilo ok?" He asked. "You were just with her right?"

"She's fine." I nodded. "She's pretty banged up, but the Doctors here patched her together."

"Good, good. Do you know about Ryan?"

I nodded, even thought I hadn't yet checked on him myself. "He was sleeping, he'll be fine."

"I know Shilo's upset with me." He said, pausing to cough "She has every right to be." He continued.

"What do you want me to do?"

He reached over and took my hand, surprising me with how much strength was there in his old fingers. "I need you to make sure she doesn't hate me." He said. "Tell her I only meant it for the best. I was trying to look out for all of them. I never meant to hurt her."

"All of them?"

He nodded. "Peter, little Peter. He escaped the fire. Ryan got him out of the house too. I never told her, never told anyone. He's alive."

"Where is he?" I asked. This was amazing! Another one of her brother's was alive.

"I don't know." He said and I could see that he was starting to breathe slower. "The foster agency changed his name and hid him away. Witness protection made sure that no one knew who he really was or where he'd come from. I gave his adoption military clearance so even I don't know. He was safest that way."

"How can we find him then?" I asked. "If no one knew who he was."

"Shilo will find him." He said confidently. "She's good at that. She's persistent. She'll find him."

The Col. closed his eyes and I sat with him until his chest stopped moving. The weight in the room was heavy and I was sure that I'd never get used to death. I untangled my fingers from his and stood up quickly, jumping when a nurse touched my shoulder. I hadn't heard them come in.

Bobby took my hand and pulled me from the room. He lead me down the hall and back into Shilo's room, sitting with me in the rocking chair. I cried softly for a while, mourning for a man I didn't know, but who I now regarded as one of the strongest people I'd ever met. He'd done so much, just to help some kids who weren't even his. He'd died protecting them.

"Julie?" Bobby asked, once I'd stopped crying. "Are you ok?"

I nodded. "I'm fine Bobby."

"What did the Col. have to say?"

I shook my head. "I need to talk to Shilo about it first." The news about her youngest brother was too personal to share with anyone else first. I would wait until I had both her and Ryan together to share the news. "I'll make sure everyone knows after I've had a chance to speak with her."

Bobby nodded. "Alright, you should really get some rest."

"Have you called his son's yet?" I asked. "They should know."

Bobby shook his head. "Not yet, we figured we'd let Shilo speak with them tomorrow. The Doctor said she should be ok for that."

"Has anyone found Caesar yet?" I asked.

Bobby nodded, brushing some hair away from my forehead. "Yeah Niña, we found him."

"He's dead too isn't he?" I asked.

Bobby nodded. "Yes. Ranger and I have already spoken with his wife. She'll let us know when the memorial is."

I nodded, but didn't say anything. I was feeling thoroughly depressed and bummed out. I didn't like death. Bobby stood up and used the sheet she was laying on to move Shilo over a few inches, without hurting her. He came over and kissed my forehead pressing a bag into my hand.

"Ella brought you both some clothes, your pajamas are in there too. Get some rest."

I waited until he left before I stripped off everything but my shirt and underwear. I was far to tiered to brush out my hair or dig through the bag for a pair of sweat pants so I crawled in, as is, next to Shilo. I remembered rearranging the sheets so we were both covered, but I'm pretty sure I passed out before my head ever hit the pillow.

~Darkrose

Yeah, we're almost done and I'm loving the way this story it coming out. Only a few more chapters to go unless my muse takes over.

Question 11 (Are we on 11?) Have you seen 'One for the Money' yet? Did you like it?