Because you love her- by jersey girl in oxford (sue)

Chapter 9

Tank's will was very specific. He wanted to be cremated without any fancy funeral. His ashes were to be delivered to his mother. Ranger knew the drill. Many times, he and Tank talked about their final wishes when it looked like they might not have made it. Ranger faxed his power of attorney paper work and a copy of Tank's will with his instructions to the New York City Medical Examiner's Office. When they were finished with their examination, the remains would be cremated and released to Ranger to make the final arrangements. The numbness he felt after finding out about Stephanie was back. Brown had offered to drive back to Trenton but Ranger refused. He needed something to help him stay focused. Upon returning to Haywood, Ranger told them to take the night off and for Morelli to go home. He grabbed the file for Starlite and retreated to the 7th floor.

Morelli let Bob out the back door, threw his keys on the counter, and grabbed a beer out of the fridge. After chugging it down in one long gulp, Morelli slammed the bottle on the counter. Beer wasn't going to cut it. He pulled the half full bottle of Southern Comfort from the cabinet. Even though he had a good reason to get drunk every night since Stephanie's death, he hardly touched a drop. His father was a drunk. He saw what that did to his mother and promised himself that he would never end up like his father. He poured himself a rather large glass of the Southern Comfort and put the rest away. If he didn't keep himself in check, he didn't doubt he would have any difficulty polishing off the rest of that bottle. He worked too hard to prove to his mother, Stephanie, and all of Trenton that Joe Morelli was not like his father. He wasn't going to let it all go to shit now. Stephanie would have been disappointed in him if he did. He felt the amber liquid's heat all the way down. One night. He would only take off one night before getting back to finding her killer. With Tank's death, Ranger needed a night off, too. He let Bob in and headed for the couch.

Ranger checked more into Starlite. Nothing. It was set up to be a dummy corporation. It had to be tied to something or someone else. There were some other properties associated with Starlite. An antique dealership. A mansion in Rumson. An auction house. Whoever this person was, he was able to hide his tracks well.

Morelli had gotten a good buzz from the Southern Comfort and started to doze off until Bob began to growl. He was facing the back door. "What's wrong, Boy?" Morelli rubbed his head to try to calm him down. He got up and somewhat staggered to the back door. The light wasn't on but he could see the outline of a person standing on the back porch. Opening the door and flicking the light on, the woman turned to face him. "Cupcake?" he whispered. He blinked several times and rubbed his eyes. He must have had more to drink than he realized.

"Hi Joe," she said. He continued to stare, jaw practically on the floor. She smiled and put her hands on her hips. "Well…aren't you going to invite me in?" Morelli appeared to have lost his voice so he nodded. When she didn't move, he tried to speak.

"Yeah," he croaked. "Come in." Bob had been barking but know began to whine. Morelli nudged Bob with his knee to quiet him. Stephanie walked right up to him, placed her hands on the sides of his face, and gently kissed him.

"Did you miss me?" Morelli nodded again. This had to be a dream. Stephanie was gone. But it seemed so real. Fuck it. It didn't matter. If it was a dream, he would wake up tomorrow and nothing would be any different. Right now, she was here with him. He pulled her tight against him, kissed her passionately, felt her tongue battling with his again. She pushed him back towards the living room. There were so many questions running through his head. What happened? Where had she been? How is this even possible? At that moment, his heart took over telling him nothing else mattered because you love her.

As Ranger continued to dig deeper and deeper, one name continually popped up…Christian de Beauvoir. He knew this had to be the man Stephanie was involved with before her death. He ran several searches but information conflicted information. There were no photos of him. There were several birth certificates and birth dates for this name. This was not uncommon because there could possibly be hundreds or thousands of people with the same name. There was only one residential property connected with Starlite, and that was the mansion in Rumson. Ranger was pulled out of his thoughts by his cell phone. Because of Tank's death, he assigned a team to watch Morelli's house as well. Ranger stiffened at the report. A woman of Stephanie's description was seen entering Morelli's home. Ranger grabbed his keys and headed to the garage.

Before Morelli could suggest they continue in his bedroom, his front door was kicked in. Ranger and two of his men burst in. Ranger's eyes widened, and he and his men froze in place. "Babe," Ranger whispered. Stephanie had pushed off Morelli and backed towards the base of the stairs. It was obvious she was taken by surprise.

"Ranger?" she hissed back with canine teeth exposed. Another team broke in through the back door. They had her trapped with guns drawn and pointed at her.

"No!" Morelli cried as he tried to get in front of her. Ranger grabbed him roughly by the arm and shoved him out of the way. "Don't hurt her!"

"That's not Stephanie, Morelli. You know that," Ranger told him calmly. All of a sudden, Stephanie broke from the scene and ran up the stairs. Before they even reached the bottom step, the sound of glass exploding was heard. Ranger's men checked the other rooms and the surrounding area outside. She was gone.

"She's alive, Ranger," Morelli insisted. "There must have been a mistake. That was Stephanie." Morelli's eyes pleaded with Ranger's. But Ranger just shook his head.

"She's not what you think she is, Morelli, or do I have to spell it out for you?" Morelli dropped to his couch with his face in his hands.

"No…not her. Fuck! This can't be happening!" Morelli fought to hold back the tears. "This is so unreal! Do you honestly believe she's a…..vampire?" Ranger shrugged.

"I've been to hell and back and seen a lot of shit. I've never seen anything like this, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. All I know is that the Stephanie Plum we know…died. Whoever or whatever was here tonight….I don't know," Ranger told him. "I don't think you are safe here. Might be a good idea for you to stay at Rangeman tonight in a vacant apartment. I've got an address in Rumson that we'll check out tomorrow." Morelli nodded. Before he could open his mouth to ask, Ranger added, "Yeah….it's okay to bring the dog and the rat."

"What happened, Sabine?"

"I was…interrupted." She turned and walked onto the terrace looking at the night sky.

"Interrupted? Or more like distracted?" He encircled his arms around her and pulled her close. Rolling her eyes, she sighed.

"Ranger must have had men watching his house. They almost had me but I got away." She turned in his embrace and wrapped her arms around him. "I don't think I can do this, Christian. I love you and want to be with you. But I can't kill them." He stroked her hair. "Let's just move away. Get out of this area. Please?"

"They've seen you, Sabine. They know what we are. Do you think they will stop looking for you?" A tear slid down her cheek as she shook her head.

"No….they won't stop."