A/N: All recognizable characters belong to Janet Evanovich. I use them for fun and not profit.

Chapter 8

The building on Haywood looked exactly the same. It had been quite awhile since I'd sashayed past the security kiosk and onto the elevator. The Merry Man behind the desk was unfamiliar to me, but I was apparently known to him.

"Hello, Ms. Plum. Ranger isn't here at the moment. How can I help you?"

"Well," I answered, "I'm not sure if you can. I need to speak with him. Will he be back soon? I'm sorry, I don't know your name."

"I'm Howdy, ma'am. I started working here about three months ago." Howdy was a large man, maybe even topping Tank in height. His body was one solid muscle topped with a neck thicker than my thigh. His hair was bright orange and corkscrewed around a full face covered in freckles. His grin was engaging as he said, "We've never officially met, but I've heard a lot about you."

I stuck out my hand to shake his, my grin appearing in response to his. He looked like a giant muscle-bound Howdy Doody and judging by his nickname others thought so as well. I felt a little nostalgia for all I'd missed at RangeMan during Ranger's supposed absence.

"Ranger will be back before too long," Howdy said. "He and Tank had a dinner meeting with one of the RangeMan attorneys." I swallowed the lump that found its way to my throat. I hoped I wasn't their main topic of conversation.

My nerves were jumping, but I tried to sound casual as I said, "I have a key to his apartment. I'll just wait for him there." I waited for Howdy to say I no longer had clearance to be in Ranger's personal space. He didn't say that. What he did say both surprised and amused me.

"Would you like me to call Lester? You could wait for Ranger with his grandpa and your grandma if you want." My grandma was at RangeMan. I couldn't get over it. Before I could answer, the elevator door slid open and Lester walked out. He did a double take at seeing me.

"Hi, Steph. How you doing? You look a little pale. Still tired out after last night?"

It took me a moment to realize Lester had been a witness to whatever went on at the Whiplash last evening.

"No, I'm doing fine. That was an interesting show last night, huh?"

Lester smirked. He definitely knew something I didn't. "Yeah, and it got real interesting right at closing time. Did that guy get his g-string back?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said quite truthfully.

Lester laughed. "Yeah, that'd be the story I'd go with too."

"Hey, Santos," Howdy said, "Ms. Plum is waiting for Ranger. I said maybe she could wait in your apartment."

"No can do," Lester said. "I'm just on my way out. Grandpa Osbaldo has a hot date. He hung a do not disturb sign on the door." Lester shot me a speculative look. "I think he has plans to get lucky tonight. I told him I wouldn't be back 'til midnight. I'm giving him space." Grandma was getting lucky on the fourth floor. Despite my nervousness at being an uninvited visitor, I was excited for Grandma.

"I'll just wait upstairs for Ranger," I told them. I hopped on the elevator, key fob in hand, hoping it still worked.

Two hours later I was tired from pacing back and forth in Ranger's living room. My nervousness at confronting Ranger had abated a little. Just being in his space made me feel calmer. I knew I would have to be strong, because while it was one thing to say I was leaving Ranger in the dust, it was another thing altogether to do it. I flopped on the sofa, hugging a pillow to my chest and resting my head on another. Despite my intention to move forward with my life, I couldn't stop my thoughts from wandering back to the time when it all started to go wrong.

My phone rang and I saw Ranger's number on the caller ID. It had been two days since I told him I was pregnant. Time had crept by while I waited for him to call. The longer I waited the more despair I felt. I knew he wouldn't be happy about the pregnancy. I, surprisingly, was happy. It was nothing I'd hoped or planned for, but it was nothing I couldn't handle. I hoped to have a partner to share it with, but if Ranger didn't want to be a part of it, I would experience it on my own.

I flipped open my phone, "Hello."

"Babe, I'm coming over. I've made plans. We're getting married today."

"What!"

"I'll be there in an hour." He disconnected and I was left with my mouth open, holding a dead phone.

When he came we had the fight of all fights. In the end, he had his way. He was marrying me, he told me, because his child would have two parents. I knew he loved me. He'd said so before, always qualifying the statement. Sometimes he said he loved me in his own way. One time he said his love came with a condom and not a ring. Ha! What I didn't understand was how he could categorize his feelings. He loved me, but he never wanted a relationship with me. His lifestyle wouldn't allow him to be in a relationship with anyone. I'd heard that story as many times as I heard the 'I love you' qualifiers. It must have been pregnancy hormones that clouded my mind so much it never occurred to me this marriage wouldn't lead to a relationship.

The judge was a former Army Ranger. He had arranged for the quiet ceremony to take place in his chambers, complete with his secretary as the single witness required by New Jersey law. It was over almost before it began. As we walked out of the courthouse into the sunshine of the Jersey summer day, I looked down at the plain platinum band on my hand. I was bemused and totally unaware of my surroundings when the first bullet zinged into the stone pillar next to my head. Three more shots had been fired before I realized what was happening. Ranger pushed me down and I landed heavily on the concrete steps. He fell on top of me, shielding me with his body. He managed to pull his gun and return fire.

The sound of sirens and the screeching of tires as a vehicle pulled away from the curb meant the nightmare attack was over as suddenly as it began. When Ranger rolled off me and helped me to my feet we both looked down with horror at the brownish red stain on the front of my dress and the bright red blood running down my legs.

"Were you shot?" he asked. I shook my head no, and the despair started to fill my heart.

I came awake suddenly, not realizing at first where I was. Across the room, Ranger sat motionless staring at me. His face was shadowed in the darkness of the room. It was the first good look I'd had of him in over seven months. His hair was short, combed back from his beautiful face. His lips were pursed in a tight line. I couldn't see his eyes well in the darkness of the room, but I knew there was no welcome in them. I sat up.

"I'm divorcing you," I said.

"So I heard. I had dinner with my attorney."

"Well," I hesitated, not knowing exactly how to proceed, "I don't really know what else to say. I just wanted you to know what I was doing."

"You may not need to divorce me. We were never intimate after the wedding. The whole thing can be dissolved, but not by RangeMan attorneys. I won't fight it, but you'll have to find your own attorney. I'm told it would be a conflict of interest for RangeMan attorneys to represent you."

"You won't fight it?" My voice was low and throaty, my surprise at his words making it hard for me to get words out. It had never occurred to me he would fight it.

"I married you to give our baby my name. I killed our baby. I made the decision then you would be the one to make any further decision about our relationship. I won't fight the divorce, Stephanie. I'll give you what you want. I'm surprised you didn't do this immediately after I left."

My temper was simmering. "I would make decisions?" I was incredulous. "What do you mean, you killed our baby? Ranger, what world do you live in?" I was almost at the boiling point. He sat in the chair watching me, not moving at all. I was up and pacing.

"I would make the decisions?" I asked again. "When would I start? After you brought me home from the hospital and told me you were taking yourself out of my life? After you moved to Boston? Lula told me, by the way, that you never totally left Trenton. You just left me."

"Stephanie, I had no choice. I knew that putting you in my life would open you to dangers, but even I never imagined that something would happen so soon after the wedding. It was an assassination attempt on me by someone I had once put away, but it ended up almost killing you and it did kill our baby. It was my fault. I had no choice. I had to leave to keep you safe and I did try to leave Trenton. It's turned out not to be possible for me to remove my presence entirely."

"You deserted me, Ranger." I saw the pain on his face at my words. He stood and turned his back to me. Aha! Mr. Blank Face was having trouble hiding his emotions. I was getting to him and it felt good.

"You were my friend before you were my lover," I continued. "When I needed a friend the most, you left me alone. Oh, you were there for the miscarriage. You brought me home from the hospital and made sure I was physically able to take care of myself. And then, when I needed you, you were gone. You left me to deal with the horror of losing our baby all alone. I didn't tell anyone. Not my parents, not my friends, I was alone and grieving."

He turned to look at me and I saw anguish in his face. Another time I'd have felt compassion for his pain. Tonight I was consumed with my own. Tomorrow, when I had time to think, maybe I could accept that he'd suffered too. Tonight I was going to make sure he saw what I'd been through.

"If you'd stayed Ranger, you'd know you didn't kill our baby. The doctor said it was inevitable. Something called a blighted ovum. The baby was already dead. The doctor didn't know if it was the trauma of the moment or just bad timing that I started bleeding when I did. Our baby never had a chance." He took a step toward me and I held up my hand to stop him. I was on a roll.

"Don't confuse me with Rachel," I said. "You married Rachel to give your other child a name. I wanted you in my life because you were my friend and my lover. This pregnancy was an accident and a gift, but you didn't see it that way."

"I couldn't allow myself to see it that way," he said emotionlessly. His flat voice enraged me. I advanced on him with hands fisted, not thinking in specifics, just knowing I was going to break through the barrier of calm.

"If I can't use your attorney for a divorce then I'll find another one, and you can take back all the money you've given me. I don't want or need your money or your protection. I'm leaving you even if I have to hire Albert Fucking Kloughn!"

He stood silently and let me rage at him.

"You're going to give me what I want? You are so far from knowing what I want…" I stopped talking and launched myself at him. I swung my fists wildly striking his chest over and over until I collapsed onto the soft rug and buried my face in my hands. I cried for the first time since Ranger left seven and a half months ago. I cried for myself and for Ranger, and I cried for our baby.

I felt his arms go around me. I wanted to push him away and I wanted to wrap my arms around him. He picked me up and sat in the chair with me on his lap. He said nothing while I sat huddled in his lap sobbing uncontrollably into his shirt. When I was almost completely spent, I pulled back and wiped my nose on my sleeve. I looked up to see silent tears streaming down his face. He took my face in his hands and turned me to look straight into his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Babe. Forgive me."

I laid my head against his chest and sat in his lap unmoving until my breathing returned to normal. Slowly I pushed myself up from his lap and made my way into the bathroom. I splashed cold water on my face and wiped the trails of mascara away. My head was throbbing and I knew I had to get away. I needed to be alone to dissect the train wreck this night had turned into.

Ranger was standing in the middle of the living room awaiting my return, his black silk shirt ruined from my tears.

"I'm leaving now," I said quietly. The earlier anger was gone, leaving me feeling incredibly drained.

Ranger walked to the sofa and picked up my coat helping me slip into it. He picked up his jacket and followed me to the door. "I'll take you home. You're in no condition to drive. I'll have one of the guys bring your car home in the morning." I was in no shape to protest.

We rode side by side in the elevator, neither touching nor talking. When the door slid open into the garage I stepped out, only to come to an abrupt halt. I looked up to see my Grandma in an embrace with Osbaldo Santos-Ayres. He leaned down and whispered something in her ear and she laughed. I heard Ranger's in-drawn breath as he realized the identity of the couple.

Grandma Mazur's gaze caught mine and she pulled Osbaldo around to face Ranger and me. "Well, Stephanie, fancy meeting you here. Baldy and I were just leaving. He's giving me a ride home. You're lookin' hot, Ranger. I haven't seen you around much lately."

"No," Ranger replied. "I've been spending a lot of time in Boston."

Osbaldo held the door of his Mercedes open, "Get in, Eddie. There's a chill in the air, even in here. I want to make sure you're staying warm."

Grandma laughed, "Well, I'd say you're doing a dang good job of that." She elbowed him and they both laughed as he helped her into the car.

"Babe, your grandma's sweater was on inside out," Ranger said softly.

"I saw that," I said, "and he called her Eddie. They have nicknames for each other." Ranger made no comment. He fobbed the Porsche unlocked and opened the door for me. We made the entire trip to my apartment in silence. I thought over and over of Osbaldo and Grandma. They were calling each other Baldy and Eddie. They were holding hands. I was envious.

Ranger walked me to my door. He pulled a key from his pocket, put it in my lock and the door swung open. Through my fatigue I remembered I'd had the lock changed the day before. He didn't offer an explanation and I didn't ask. He crossed the threshold in front of me. We'd done this before. I knew he would check my apartment and make sure it was safe before he left. Our eyes fell on the white envelope lying on the floor at the same time. He bent to pick it up and handed it to me. My hand trembled as I took it.

"Babe?"

I didn't say anything. The bold black writing on the envelope made my stomach turn. I ripped the envelope open, not worrying about fingerprints, and pulled the paper from inside. I unfolded the sheet and gasped when I saw my head photo shopped onto a naked body that had been horribly mutilated by stab wounds. Across the bottom of the letter was a crudely printed message.

'Stay away from him. He isn't the one for you.' Ranger took the paper from my hand.

"What is this?" he asked.

"I have a stalker," I said, "but it's being taken care of. Morelli and Bunchy are working on it."

Ranger was silent for a moment, considering his next move. "I'll call Howdy and have him bring your car over. He'll stay in your parking lot until morning."

"Ranger, that's not necessary."

"You're still my wife. It is necessary. Why didn't you bring this to Tank?"

"I'm serious," I said. "I'm moving forward with my life and that no longer includes you or RangeMan."

"Stephanie, I take care of those important to me," he said, as he extended his hand to me.

I shook my head and stepped away from him. He turned and said, "Lock the door behind me," and then he left.

I turned off the lights and made my way into the bedroom. I looked out the window to see him standing by his Porsche looking up at the dark apartment. I pulled open my cell and dialed his number.

"Babe."

"Thank you for the flowers, the ones you brought on my due date." I hung up before he could respond.

A/N: The last chapter was confusing to many people so I reworked a few lines and reposted to make it clearer. Hopefully this chapter has cleared up many questions. If you're still reading—Thank you!