WOW! Thanks for all of the kind reviews and the input over the baby drama! We'll just have to wait along with Steph and Ranger to see what happens!

*Cupcake warning- Joe is a manipulative, controlling ass in this story, just like he is in the JE versions!

Chapter 5 – I Heard it Through the Grapevine

Joe's POV (as soon as they returned to the station)

Damn it! This day was going from bad to worse! I ran my hands through my hair, letting out a frustrated sigh. I loved Stephanie. I really did. So why couldn't I control my temper when I was around her? It was all Manoso's fault! In all the times that Steph and I had argued, I had never laid a finger on her until yesterday. And that was only because she was talking about choosing him over me. I mean, what the hell? And then this morning when she said that she had been with him last night, I just completely lost control. All this time, I thought I had escaped the Morelli curse. I had worked so hard to keep from being labeled as an abusive alcoholic like the rest of the men in my family, and instead I ended up fulfilling the damned prophecy.

But I couldn't help it! The thought of him touching her! Fucking her! Getting her pregnant! She'd better not be pregnant! Fucking Manoso! I threw my coffee cup across my office and watched it shatter against the wall.

What was I going to do? By now, there was bound to be a bruise on Steph's cheek. Or at least a bright red handprint. Add that to the handprints on her arms from last night, and she was going to look like a damned abused woman. Too bad Manoso hadn't been the one to leave those bruises on her. I could have him locked up for a little while.

Wait a minute! That's it! There were no witnesses to today's traffic stop. No one saw me slap Stephanie. It would be my word against hers. I saw those hickeys up and down her neck. Some of them could pass for other sorts of bruises. I grimaced, but knew that there were probably other marks that he had left on her body last night and this morning. That would all work in my favor, though. The bruises on her cheek, arms, neck, and whatever else he had marked up could be explained away as an abusive relationship between the two of them. I would be completely off the hook.

A grin spread across my face. This just might work. The first thing I'd have to do would be to call my mom and activate the Burg grapevine. Steph hated to be the topic of gossip around the Burg, but I'd provided the information more times than she knew. My hope was that if she got embarrassed enough by people talking about her disastrous failures as a bounty hunter, maybe she would quit and give up on that stupid job. It would give me a chance to provide for her. It had almost worked a few times. Maybe this would finally be the push she needed.

I picked up my phone and called my mom. She answered right away.

"Mom?" I asked in a distraught voice.

"Joseph! What's wrong? What is it?" Her own voice was full of concern.

I blew out a deep breath. "It's Stephanie. I don't know what to do, mom! I'm so worried about her."

My mom's voice held a little less compassion when she found out that I was calling about Stephanie. My family would accept her once we were married, I knew that. But for right now, my mom and Grandma Bella couldn't understand why a young lady from the Burg didn't want to get married. Honestly, I didn't understand that part either. Added to that, my family, of course, thought that I was a great catch- handsome, with a good job, and my own house. This just made Stephanie look like an even bigger fool as far as they were concerned. Again, I agreed, but I was certain that I could change her mind. She would come around; she always did. After all, she had been mine since she was 6 years old. There was no way that I was giving up on her now!

"What happened?" she asked patiently.

"I pulled her over this morning for running a red light. I noticed that she had a bruise on her cheek. It looked like someone had slapped or punched her. I asked her to step out of the vehicle so that I could see if she had any other injuries. I moved to examine her, and she must have thought that I was going to hurt her. She grabbed her stun gun out of her purse and tried to attack me with it. I had to restrain her before she hurt herself or me. I couldn't get her to relax or calm down. I had no choice! I had to bring her in for assaulting an officer. But what am I going to do? How can I help her?"

My mom had gasped and tsk, tsk-ed through my whole story. I knew that she was sufficiently shocked. This story was definitely going to hit the gossip chain as soon as we hung up.

"Oh, Joey! You are so thoughtful, so selfless! Always wanting to help others! But I don't understand why Stephanie would ever think that you would hurt her? Why wouldn't she let you help her?"

"I know, mom, I know. But sometimes when women have been abused, they start to fear all men. They flinch at sudden movements and feel threatened from innocent gestures like someone reaching out a hand."

"Oh, how terrible!" my mother wailed. "Poor, Stephanie! She is lucky that she has you to look out for her! Who would do such a thing? Do you know who hurt her?"

I took a deep breath and blew it out. "I think it's her boss, Ranger Manoso. You know, the Cuban guy that owns the security company in town. I think they may be dating."

"Well!" my mother huffed. "That would just serve her right for leaving you and thinking she could do better."

"Mom!" I admonished. "I love Stephanie. I want to help her. Even if some of this is her own fault because she chooses to hang around with thugs like that. I'll do whatever I can for her." I knew that last part would definitely get passed around. That's exactly what I wanted! I wanted everyone to pressure Stephanie to leave Ranger and come back to me.

"Of course, of course!" my mom agreed.

"Well, mom, I should probably go. I have a lot of work to do here, and I have to see what I can do to help Steph. Thanks for listening. It always makes me feel better to talk to you and get things off my chest." I grinned. It always made me feel better when I could get my version of the story into the grapevine first.

My mom's voice was filled with pride. "You call me any time, Joseph, any time! I am always happy to help you work through your problems!"

"Love you, mom! Talk to you soon!"

"I love you, too, Joseph. Goodbye!"

"Bye, mom."

I hung up the phone with a deep sense of satisfaction. I knew that Steph would tell people that some of those bruises had come from me and that some had been from a night of rough sex with Ranger, but she underestimated me. The first rule of gossip was that people always believed what they heard first. It didn't matter if it was true or not. Now when people heard her say that the bruises were caused by me, they'd think she was trying to protect Ranger. After all, we'd dated on and off for 3 years, and she'd never had a bruise until now. Until she started hanging around Manoso more and more. If she tried to explain the bruises away as love bites or rough sex, people would assume that he was too rough, violent, in the bedroom and she was covering for him. You had to love human nature!

Now to go talk to some of the guys before Steph did. Eddie, Carl, Big Dog …

(Bold section from the end of Chapter 4)

Steph's POV

Eddie handed me the phone, and I dialed the only person who had a chance in hell of getting me out of here.

"Yo!"

"Ranger?" I squeaked out. I will not cry. I will not cry.

"Babe! Thank God! Where are you? Are you OK?" That was a mouthful for Batman! And he sounded so concerned.

I took a deep, shaky breath. "I'm at TPD. I think I'm about to be arrested. Can you please come and help me?"

"Arrested?" Ranger asked incredulously. "What happened?"

"Joe pulled me over for running a red light, and things kind of escalated from there." I blew out a shaky breath. "Can you come down, please?"

"On my way, Babe. Have you been officially charged with anything yet?"

"Not yet, but according to Eddie it's only a matter of time."

I could hear rustling and footfalls in the background and guessed that Ranger was running down the stairs as he talked. "I'm calling an attorney as soon as I get off the phone with you. Don't say or sign anything, you hear me?"

I nodded and then realized he couldn't see me. "Yes." I whispered. "Thanks, Ranger."

"No price. I'll be there in 10. Sit tight." And he disconnected.

I hung up and took a deep breath, willing myself to stay strong. When I turned to walk back to the interview room with Eddie, I saw a strange look on his face. His eyes were hard, and his mouth was set in a straight line.

"What?" I asked him, completely confused.

He shook his head and put a supportive arm around my shoulders. "Want a cup of coffee, Steph?"

"Sure." I answered in a hollow voice, settling back in my uncomfortable hard plastic seat.

Eddie grabbed two cups of coffee, along with some creamers and sugar packets, then flopped down across from me. "There wasn't anyone else you could call, Steph?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

"I just don't understand why you would call Ranger to help you after all he's done." He still had the hard look on his face.

"Eddie, I have no idea what you're talking about! Ranger has always been there for me."

He leaned forward, his palms flat on the table. "Is that the problem, Steph? That he's always there? He's not here right now. You can talk to me, tell me what's going on. I'm a police officer, but I'm family, too. I can protect you from him, you know."

Now I was completely confused. Protect me from Ranger? What the hell was he talking about? Had I missed something major? I just stared at Eddie, my eyebrows knotted together. "Huh?"

"Steph, look, you don't have to be afraid of him. I can help you file charges against him. We can get you a restraining order. He won't be allowed anywhere near you."

"Are you talking about Ranger?" I clarified.

Now it was Eddie's turn to look confused. "Who else would I be talking about? Is there someone else abusing you that I should be aware of?"

"Look, Eddie, I have no idea why you think that Ranger would hurt me, but he wouldn't. If you're referring to the lovely bruise on my cheek, that would be from your pal Joseph Anthony Morelli, not Ranger."

Eddie looked like he was in shock. "Want to tell me what happened?" he asked.

"Are you asking me officially or just as a concerned friend?" I questioned.

Eddie slouched back in his chair. "Completely off the record."

"Joe is an ass." I snarled, violently ripping open two sugar packets.

Eddie raised his eyebrows at me but didn't say anything. I filled him in on the confrontation in my apartment from the night before and the less than professional traffic stop this morning. Eddie is an easygoing guy. He has to be to put up with my annoying cousin, Shirley-the-Whiner, and the hellions that are his children. I have very rarely ever seen Eddie get angry or raise his voice, so when he roared "What?" at the end of my story, I jumped and spilled my coffee all over the table.

"Shit! Sorry!" Eddie apologized and grabbed a wad of napkins, mopping up the table. "Just so you know, Steph, that is nothing close to the version that Joe is telling everyone."

I glared at Eddie. "What is he saying?"

Eddie sighed and rubbed the top of his head. "He says he went over to your apartment last night because you the two of you were planning on getting back together. He said you guys were talking and…" He paused and nervously shifted in his seat.

I had no idea where this was going. "Spit it out, Eddie." I growled.

Eddie cleared his throat "He said that Ranger showed up with two of his guys while the two of you were talking. According to Joe, Ranger had Tank restrain him while he took you to Haywood. Joe said he spent the whole night looking for you, to make sure you were alright. When he found you this morning, he said that it looked like you and Ranger had gotten in a fight. He saw the handprint on your cheek and assumed Ranger slapped you when he found out that the two of you were planning to get back together."

I sat in stunned disbelief. "You have got to be kidding me!"

Eddie shook his head.

"If that's really what happened, then why would I attack Joe when he pulled me over? Wouldn't I be glad to see him?"

"Well, he said he was confused by that, too. He didn't know if you perceived all men as a threat after the abusive relationship that you and Ranger have been in for the last few months or if you blamed him for not keeping Ranger away from you. He said you got so violent that he was afraid you'd accidentally hurt yourself or him. He claims that he cuffed you and brought you in to give you a chance to cool down. He's considering dropping the charges after you get a chance to calm down and think more clearly."

I shook my head, eyes wide, and mouth hanging open. For the first time in a long time, I was speechless.

Eddie reached across the table and grabbed my hands. "Steph, look at me."

In a daze, I looked up and made eye contact with him.

"Promise me that Ranger didn't leave that mark on your face."

That snapped me out of my fog. I wanted to yell and scream at Eddie for even suggesting such a thing, but when I looked at his face, all I saw was concern. He wasn't insulting me or Ranger. He was trying to look out for me. I was pretty lucky to have Eddie in my life!

I squeezed his hands. "I promise, Eddie. This came from Joe this morning."

Eddie let a breath I didn't know he'd been holding. "OK, Steph, thanks. I couldn't let him see you here or leave with you until I knew for sure. You know I'd do anything for you, but I have to admit that standing up to Ranger and all of his guys wasn't something I was looking forward to doing."

I leaned across the table gave him a kiss on the cheek. "That would just be suicidal, Eddie!" I gave him a small smile.

He laughed and patted my hand. "Agreed!"

We sat in silence for a minute until I remembered the other ridiculous charge that Joe wanted to pin on me. "What about the supposed drive by shooting that I committed on Stark Street this morning?"

"You're just going to be questioned about that because of the similarity of the vehicle. That should be an easy charge to get dropped."

I shook my head. "Yeah, because there aren't 8500 black SUVs in the Trenton area. I know of a garage that is housing about 15 of them right now."

Eddie nodded. "I know, Steph. Don't worry. That charge will never stick. Other than the similar car, there's nothing to tie you to that." He shifted in his seat uncomfortably. "But, just in case, you don't happen to have an alibi for 3 am, do you?"

I folded my arms across my chest. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I do."

Eddie raised his eyebrows at me. "You have someone who can vouch for your whereabouts at 3am?"

"Ranger."

Eddie nodded. "Good enough for me."

Just then we heard a commotion in the hallway. There were several loud voices and some banging around. Eddie scraped his chair back and stood up, opening the door. I peeked around him and saw Ranger arguing with a rookie cop.

"I don't care what your procedure is! You will show me where you are holding Stephanie Plum, and you will show me right now!"

The rookie was looking like he might have a heart attack right there in the hallway, but you had to give him credit. He was trying to do his job and follow the rules.

"Ranger!" I cried.

He turned towards the interview room, and when he saw me standing there, I could see the relief wash across his face.

I pushed past Eddie and ran over to him, launching myself into his arms. He caught me quickly and wrapped his arms around me. "Thank God you're OK." He murmured into my hair.

I leaned back to give him a kiss, and a furious expression flickered across his features before his blank face slammed down. "What the hell happened to your cheek?" he snarled.

TBC

Ranger is here! Yay! And he saw the bruise on Steph's cheek. Joe is trouble now! So, what do you think? Should the SUV have a camera that caught the whole "arrest" or not? Please let me know what you think!