Author's Note: Sorry it's taken so long for an update. I mentioned my parents are in town and they're leaving this weekend. But I'm dying to do a little writing. Enjoy my lovelies!

Disclaimer: You know what it is mine and what is JE's.

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Sunday Aly and I decided to pick up Suzanne from the hospital and have a girl's day. We stayed inside, rented some movies, did some facials and just laughed. I had turned my phone off because I didn't want to talk to either Joe or Ranger. Not that I was angry with either one, but I just wasn't in the mood with any of that today, besides my friend needed me. Suzanne offered to turn her phone off but Lester kept texting her so I wasn't going to make her stop talking to him. I offered to let her stay the night in my place, but Lester had assured her the locks were secure. Also I guess anytime a door or window was open or broken it sent an alert to Suzanne and Lester's phone. He promised her they would take it off once this issue was resolved. Every single time she got an alert she had to send a message to let him know things were all clear. I was positive it was sent to his phone and not mine- because then he would have another excuse to talk to her. After a great day Aly and I walked her to her front door and watched her phone buzz with an alert the second her door was opened.

"You'll call me right- if you need anything?"

"I promise, thank you both for a great day." With a smile and a hug we watched her walk into her house. Although she tried to look brave it wasn't difficult to see she was scared walking into her home. Not that I blamed her, I knew exactly what it was like- your home was supposed to be the place you could feel safe. The place you could unwind and feel completely at ease- once that was taken from you, it never left.

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"I want to see the case files for the break in at Suzanne's house." I told Eddie Monday morning at work. Eddie set his coffee down and let out a large sigh.

"Which break in?"

"Come on Eddie- you know exactly which Suzanne I'm talking about. My next door neighbor, I was a part of that too and you know it."

"It's being taken care of."

"What does that mean?"

"I got someone else looking into it?"

"That's great- but you should know I'm going to take that case."

"Steph, I can't give you that case. If I do it's going to look like you're only working to protect yourself instead of helping others."

"I don't give a damn what it looks like- I'm not going to sit around and hope whoever you gave it to is going to make progress. That I won't come home to some guy waiting to kill me."

"Christ, how do you know it wasn't just a random break-in? They got caught, freaked and left."

"Instinct." Eddie rolled his eyes at me.

"So I'm paying you more you were making at your last job, for your instinct?"

"Damn skippy, my boss told me I have great instincts. So you need to give me this case- I'll get it either way, so if you assign it to me it will make your life much easier." He threw open one of the filing cabinets and threw a manilla folder onto his desk.

"Between you and Morelli I'm going to completely lose my mind aren't I?"

"Why would you lose your mind?" I asked picking up the folder, not that I really cared- but it's better to be nice when telling your boss how you'll be doing your job.

"Morelli tends to do his own thing too, and I should have known you would do the same thing."

"Hey- I will do what I'm told, but in this situation, there is no way you didn't expect to be having this exact conversation with me."

"I know- I get it, I really do. Steph, I worry about you- you have a habit of getting into some really bad shit. It's somewhat of a joke to the guys around here, but only because you have always been okay. That doesn't mean any of this is funny, I will give you the case- but you need to promise not to keep things from me. Update me the way you would with a regular case, and no acting on your own if you think you have a large lead on things. I realize as a bounty hunter it was all about getting the FTA on your own so you could get the money. Here, we're a team."

"I know all this, yeah I was a bounty hunter here- but in Wisconsin I was doing the same things."

"Alright, well that's everything we have on the case. Good luck."

"Thanks Eddie."

I took the folder back to my desk and started reading the police reports. The entry was forced through the sliding back door, which of course I already knew. Nothing was stolen or ruined, except for the paintings in the basement. There were a few footprints in the basement where the intruders stepped in paint. It was clear there were two different sets of feet downstairs, plus the guy upstairs. Well that explains why the one whistled- he was signaling for the others to get out in time. I could see my police statement and Suzanne's, nothing in either of those that I didn't know about. There was nothing left behind by either guy and there was no point trying to check our necks for fingerprints because this guy was smart enough to wear gloves. I packed up my folder, a notepad and a few pens- I would spend the morning talking to all our neighbors and pop in for lunch with Suzanne. Since moving back as much as I wanted to go visit Aly for lunch, it was more important for me that her and Joe got a chance together without me.

As I was leaving the office I glanced around for Morelli, trying as hard as I could not to make it obvious that I was looking for him. Not that it mattered, because he wasn't anywhere to be seen so I headed out to my car and drove to my neighborhood. While I was on the road I called Suzanne and told her I would stop by for lunch after talking to everyone in the neighborhood. She was more than happy to have me join her, and I could hear in her voice a fear was still there. I didn't doubt Suzanne couldn't handle things on her own, I mean so far nothing about her life had been easy or handed to her. She lived on her own for years, moved all over- but never before has this happened. Besides, thinking of how worried I was for Suzanne helped me not be so damn afraid of what happened to me. I could feel it though- this wasn't just a random break-in. I didn't care what other people thought or said, nothing about this felt random. It was an attack, and something I didn't want to admit to Suzanne was I think she had been followed. It was all too coincidental, from the time I heard something break and by the time I got there- was simply minutes. The photos of the destruction done in the basement was too great, especially since nothing else was stolen.

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Suzanne's phone buzzed with an alert when I walked into her house at noon. She quickly sent a text to Lester as we walked into her kitchen. Mac and cheese was sitting out in two bowls with some fresh fruit in another bowl.

"How'd it go?" She asked after a few minutes of eating.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Nothing- no one saw anything and the people that claimed they did were simply trying to get information out of me. If I told them a herd of unicorns barreled through their yards, they would tell me they saw it and describe them to me."

"Seriously?" She said with a laugh.

"Oh yeah- people want to know everything they can, no matter if it affects them or not. So by cooperating and trying to give me information- they expect information in return. Once we're done with lunch I'm going to go downstairs, have you done anything with it?" Suzanne's eyes darted down to the floor and she shook her head. It was as if she was ashamed that she hadn't faced her studio yet.

"That's okay, don't feel like you have to right away."

"I feel so foolish, I mean it's not like they set up bombs downstairs. Hell, I wasn't even attacked down there! It was just paint splattered everywhere and my artwork destroyed. That could have been a couple of punk ass little kids- but here I am still hiding from it."

"Suzanne- you are not foolish. Don't ever feel like that, what happened was scary. Once we get a lead on what the reason they came here was, then we can act accordingly."

"What do you mean?"

"Well right now we don't know if it was just a random hit, or planned. I don't feel it was random- but I have no evidence proving it wasn't yet. Nothing solid at least, and I'm going to do everything I can to find out."

"Thanks Steph, now I'm even happier about you being my neighbor." I smiled at her, and when I looked at her it was the first time I felt the loneliness deep inside. She spent her life trying to become an artist and she expressed herself through her paintings and sculptures. It wasn't even just that she was lonely for a man's attention- she didn't have anyone to really talk to about anything. When I moved to Wisconsin, Mandy had become my best friend and sister- because she listened to me in a way others hadn't. I wanted to be that for Suzanne, even though our life journeys had been so different- the feeling of being lonely was pretty universal.

"How are things going with Lester?" I asked with a smile, making the blood rush to her cheeks.

"I really like him. I mean we text all the time, all day- he lets me know when he's going to sleep and when he wakes up. He makes me smile more in one day than I have an entire year."

"Do you guys have any plans to go out on a date yet?"

"Well- nothing solid or anything, but we're talking about going out Saturday night."

"That would be great! I hope you guys get to go out."

"Me too." She admitted with a nod and a smile.

After lunch I went downstairs alone, I was glad not to have Suzanne next to me. I needed to think and just listen- not that walls could talk, but sometimes it felt like they could. I heard things and saw things better if I could just listen. The paint was thrown on every wall, sculptures she had been working on were hacked down. The finished paintings she had were now laying in a pile completely destroyed. They had really been in the house for only about 15 minutes at most, and this was a lot of destruction in that amount of time. I looked at the paint footprints that I had seen in photos. It was clear to see they were completely different feet so I determined there had only been 3 in the house. When they broke in two came downstairs and the one went upstairs, and the way they attacked her artwork- I needed to look at who Suzanne may have stepped on to get to where she was. Someone was clearly angry with Suzanne's success, which would also explain why everything else was left untouched. I followed the footprints up the back stairs and out the back door, and to the opposite side of her fence furthest from my yard. Then they stopped, not a drop of paint on the fence or anywhere else. Not only that, it was only one set of footprints running this way. There should have been 2 sets, plus some possible imprints from the other man. Then I saw out of the corner of my eyes a clear as day print in the dirt, running away from this fence.

This had only been a fake trail- a way to lead people in the opposite way so they had a chance to get out of dodge. I ran towards the fence by my house and saw indents where feet could have gone up and over- into my yard. I ran out of her yard and around into mine as fast as I could- as if I had been chasing them right now. This whole time I didn't think they would have known where I came from, for all they knew I could have just been one of her friends coming to hang out. Not only that but I had left my light on in the kitchen and my sliding door open, how would they have felt safe running through a partially lit yard risking being seen. Unless, they knew this had been my house- I thought it was just Suzanne that was being followed. Now I didn't feel too certain it was only her being watched.

As I reached my yard I ran towards where they would have hit my yard, but it was only gravel. My yard was very large and next to Suzanne's fence was my gravel driveway that led back to my big garage. I ran to the grass looking for a hint of a footprint, but I couldn't find anything. Just as I was about to give up a flash of something red caught my eye on Aly's play land. In red paint on the back side of the little hut on the upper level of her playground was a handprint. Not just a print made by someone that lost their balance and accidentally touched it and left a print. The hand was dragged, leaving long finger marks until they ran out of wood to mark. It had been in a spot I wouldn't be able to see from my back windows. Not only that, there was no blood drawn by either Suzanne or myself, and no red paint marks anywhere in the house. The footprints had been blue and yellow, and I remember Suzanne had just run out of red paint a few days before. This was made as a message to me. I squatted down to my knees and grabbed the bottom post of the playground to steady myself. It felt like my entire world was spinning in front of me- this wasn't the first time by a long shot that something had happened. But then again, I had never been a mother when I was being threatened. If they were watching Suzanne and myself they could be watching… ALY!

I hurled my body as fast to my car as I could and sped off to my parent's house. When I got there I burst through the door and saw Aly sitting on the living room floor with Grandma Mazur playing Memory.

"Good Lord Stephanie! Where's the fire?" My mother asking as she came out of the kitchen.

"No fire, just excited I got off work early today." I said really quickly and walked over to Aly. I pulled her off the ground and into a tight embrace, if you combined all my fear over the year- it still didn't compare to the fear I felt as I sped over here.

"Let's go home, baby."

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Over the next few days I had a lot to do. I checked in with Eddie only over text message to tell him I wasn't coming into the office, but that I was working. I ignored texts and calls from everyone else as I investigated. I pulled up every single magazine and newspaper article on Suzanne looking for a mention of other artist names. The only names I found were ones that led me to a dead end in the search. Suzanne had been very true to herself and her work, she didn't make any bad business deals or throw anyone under the bus. Once I decided I wasn't going to find anything else by reading articles I went to a hardware store and got a large slab of dark wood- that looked almost identical to the color of Aly's on her play hut and some paint remover- safe for human skin. Then I went to one of the best art supply stores in the area and bought red paint. Not just one shade, I bought the cheap stuff and the extremely expensive reds.

I went to my garage and one at a time covered my hand with a color and dragged my fingers along the board, as the original was left. After each one I washed the paint off and started again- I knew I would have to wait a couple days for them to dry and check back later to see if there was any that exactly matched the handprint in color. Maybe this wasn't going to do anything to help me in the case- but something told me I needed to know which kind of paint was used. The hand print was left on purpose. The paint footprints were a way to lead cops off their trail, but this was left for me to find.

On Wednesday afternoon I couldn't sit around anymore and took off on a 5 mile jog. I pushed myself to a point where it felt like my legs were going to buckle underneath me- but I wasn't stopping. The sound of my heartbeat echoed throughout my head the way I liked it. When I got home I went in the front door and did a few quick stretches before pouring myself a big glass of ice water. Before I could even take a sip- my doorbell rang. My heart started beating faster than it had been during my run. I waited a minute and slowly walked out the door and saw about a foot in front of my bottom doorstep was a small present wrapped in a bow. I glanced around into the bushes along the front of my house but didn't see anyone. I took a few steps and grabbed the package and looked over to see there was one almost identical to it that Suzanne was holding in her hands in front of her door. We walked towards each other meeting in between our houses.

"Did you see anyone?" I asked her, trying to keep my voice steady. She shook her head, eyes wide with fear. I pulled the ribbon of the present and then I ripped back the paper and opened the box. There was a little card folded in half on the top, I opened and read out loud:

I know you're searching for me. Don't worry we'll meet again soon enough.

Under the note was a post-it note stuck to a tube of red paint.

It was this one.

The post-it read, and I looked down at the tube of paint. My first thought was run it for DNA- but then it occurred to me- I bought a tube identical to this one. Once I saw what was in Suzanne's box. Without me having to tell her, she slowly opened hers the way I did. On top like mine, was a note folded in half. She read hers aloud:

This isn't over.

Under the note was a post-it that read:

Fear me.

And it was attached to a picture, it had been taken at night and it was of Suzanne in her upstairs window peeking out of her curtains. A moment later she burst into tears, I stood and held her in a hug for about 20 minutes, but then told her to go inside and lock the doors. I took both presents and told her to tell Lester about them, and that I would bring it in tomorrow. Once she was inside and ran to my garage where I kept the paints- sure enough the exact one I had been given was missing. I compared the dried hand print I made to the original- it was an exact match, and the paint used had been the most expensive one I purchased. Okay- It was time to get Aly and lock us in for the night.

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All night I had been on edge I felt awful and I knew Aly could tell something wasn't right with me. Once I put her to bed at 9 I still couldn't get myself to go to sleep- to lay down in my bed and just pray no one comes in and hurts my baby while she slept. So I paced back and forth around the main floor of the house trying to relax. At 11pm there was a soft knock on the front door. I nearly jumped out of my skin but I grabbed my gun, with my right hand and holding it slightly behind my back. I walked carefully to the front door- listening for something- anything. My hand was on the door handle and I let out a deep breath and yanked the door open and almost had a heart attack to see Joe standing in front of me. He took in my appearance.

"Long day?" Joe asked and I nodded. I looked again at him, and realized I should be asking him the same question. His facial hair was way past the point of needing to be shaved, and his hair was unkempt.

"You look like you've had one hell of a week." I retorted.

"Yeah."

"You on a big case or something." Joe just shrugged.

"Not really- can I talk to you?"

"Sure." I opened the door and once he stepped in I made sure the door was locked and we sat on the couch that was in the front room. "What's up?" I asked after a few minutes of waiting and watching some inner struggles inside of him.

"I was selfish, Stephanie."

"What?"

"When you left, I should have done something. Not just for us- but for my child. I wasn't there, I missed everything because I was too chicken shit to make a trip up to see my own daughter."

"Joe…" I started but he cut me off.

"No, I should have sent you money for her and birthday presents. I should have seen my daughter, you sat there telling her what a great guy I was and because of that- she was excited to meet me. I didn't deserve you telling her those things, I did nothing to proved I was a good father. Sure I thought about her all the time and what she was like, and how much I wanted to meet her. But thinking about her did nothing to help raise her. I should have sent you money."

"I wouldn't have accepted it Joe."

"Why not!" He yelled back.

"Because when I left I convinced myself I was running away from you, and it was your fault that you didn't follow me. But after I pushed Aly out and heard her cry for the first time I looked around the room and saw the doctor, and nurses and Mandy. It was an amazing moment, and because of me- you weren't able to see it. If I asked you to be there, you would have been- if I asked you for anything- you would have given it to me. Once I saw her and realized that I was taking away this moment from you, I knew no amount of money could buy that moment back. And the way I felt seeing this amazing and beautiful child. I started to feel guilty, and even if you would have tried to come up to see her I probably would have said no. Because every single time I looked at her I saw that I was taking more time away from you. I kept telling myself to ask you to come see her, and I knew you would have. But it was like the longer I waited and the more time that went by, the more difficult it was. So I just couldn't do it."

"But other people were able to come see you- Ranger was able to see her."

"Ranger isn't the father of my child. I didn't run away from my life with Ranger, and pack up without a word and leave. Joe I felt so guilty about everything that I wasn't going to accept any apology you would have given me. Because I was the one who was sorry. I am Joe- I am so sorry. You should have been there, and sure maybe you should have made more of an effort- but by that point my mind was made up."

"All week I have been thinking about how awful I was- the way this was all my fault. Aly should have come first, always."

"She does Joe- and you do care about her. Please, don't blame yourself, because it is my fault."

"No- I made you feel trapped, everyday I saw it. I'd come home to you and see it in your eyes that you weren't happy. I didn't do anything to change that, I just let you take care of me and the house. It wasn't until you left that I realized my favorite part about coming home had nothing to do with clean laundry, or dinner on the table. It had always been the way you made that place feel- you made it home. I made you feel awful, I made you into something you never wanted to be."

"No! Don't, I thought that too at first, that it was all you. But it wasn't, all my life I grew up watching my mother and all the women taking care of their husbands. All you told me was that I couldn't be a bounty hunter anymore- you never told me I had to give up all my dreams. I did that to myself because my mother always made me feel like that was my obligation as a woman- to do exactly what she did. I took it out on you- but it wasn't your fault." He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and pulled me into him.

"I still should have done more to make you happy."

"No matter what you did- it wasn't about the way you made me feel. It was the way I felt about myself." We sat holding onto one another for a few minutes before Joe finally pulled back.

"Listen, I realize this isn't going to cover everything for the past few years but I want to make a change. I went to my bank and opened a checking and savings account that you will receive a debit card to in a few days. I put $1000 dollars in there for Aly, and every month I will be putting more in there."

"Joe- you don't have to do this."

"Yes, I do. I want to. Besides, if you don't accept this, I will file child support against myself so you will legally have to accept it. But the court would probably think I was insane for doing that." I smiled and wiped away a tear.

"We don't need money."

"Use it for anything Steph, if you need anything- or just save it for Aly for college. I don't care but it is yours. Please just let me do this, don't fight me on it." I nodded- maybe I didn't need the money for Aly right now, but as a father he had a right to support his child.

"I've also been thinking- how would you like to take her overnight this weekend?" His face lit up, and he looked about 5 years younger as he smiled.

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah- you've really shown to me that you are great with her. I mean she loves you to death- and I think it's time the two of you really start to build your relationship."

"Thank you- this is great."

"When do you want to take her?"

"Well, can I pick her up Saturday morning and then I'll bring her back like Sunday afternoon? That way just incase my work day on Friday doesn't put in a shitty mood and ruin my daughter's first night over."

"That works perfectly."

"Good." We both got up and walked towards the door but he stopped and faced me.

"Stephanie- I want us to be a family. Be together and do it right, what do you think about that?"

"I'm not saying I don't want that, but I'm not ready for anything right now." Especially with someone out there stalking me- again. "I need time to adjust into my independence here, and I don't want to rush anything. You need time to get to know your daughter and make that work before more can come. I really do care for you Joe- but the next time I get into a relationship, I want it to be right."

"I can respect that."

"Good." I smiled and he pulled me in for a kiss. It wasn't overpowering or suggesting he wanted more, it was a sweet good night kiss. As he pulled back with a smile he noticed my gun sitting next to the door, that was where I had set it when I saw it was Joe and not a crazy killer.

"What's going on?" Joe's cop face quickly appeared as he motioned to what he was talking about.

"Nothing, just working on a new case is all." A deep sigh that was almost a growl escaped his lips.

"I know you like to work alone, Steph- and I realize I can't change that. But you need to promise me that if something is going on that could be putting my daughter in danger I expect to be informed. Because if something happens to her and you knew there was something wrong and didn't tell me- I'm not going to be happy."

"She's safe- I promise, I was just cleaning it." He nodded, clearly not believing a word I said.

"I hope so." I watched him walk out to his car and drive away. I locked the door and made sure everything else was secure and I went upstairs and tried to get some sleep.

A/N: Sorry- I was hoping to have this submitted last night. But while I was working on it I went to get something for my daughter and dislocated my knee. So, I will update as soon as I can, but it really all depends on how much pain I am in. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!