Okay, sorry about the delay in posting. RL has been a bitch this week. From finals and packing to go home for the last time, and a job interview where I had to make sure I could type 60 words per minute (I litterally typed to the point where it hurt to type anything...). Thankfully, it's all over now and hopefully the next chapter comes up easier.

Not mine, but boy I wish I could have Ranger.

Ranger's POV

Lester and I watched as our women left through the door. The minute I couldn't see her curly brown hair, my mind went back into business mode. Lester did the same. It was part of our training. Personal attachments are what get you killed.

And I wasn't ready to die.

"How much longer till they get here?" I asked him.

Lester looked at his watch. "Five, maybe ten seconds."

"We better make this good." I said, throwing a punch through his nose.

"Hey!" Lester said. "I wasn't ready!"

"Well get ready." I rolled my eyes. Steph would've been proud.

Okay, she may be out of my mind, but she still popped in every once in a while. There's nothing wrong with that, right?

When the cartel's goon's barged in, Lester and I were in mid fight. "You're a slave driver!" Lester yelled.

"And you're a lazy son of a bitch!" I yelled back.

"Hey," one of the midlevel cartel guys said. "HEY!"

"WHAT!" We yelled together.

"Did you see a couple and a woman go through here?"

I looked at Lester. "What are we stupid? We've been the only two in here."

He turned back to the men. "Look around anyway." He said in Spanish. Lester and I pretended not to understand. The men did their sweep and shook their heads.

"See? Now can I go back to hitting this guy?" I asked.

"Sure. Whatever." He motioned for his guys and they left. I grinned at Lester. It was the first time that I had gotten a good look at him. "Looking good, cuz."

"I think I need to reset my nose." Lester's shoulders sagged. "Did you see that one guy? I'm pretty sure he was bigger than Tank. We're talking possible Hulk here." Lester said, rubbing his aching jaw.

I just nodded. "We threw them off." I said to Tank. "How are the ladies?"

"Almost there… wait."

"What?"

"Was that guy really bigger than me?"

I sighed internally. "What are you, four?"

Tank didn't get a chance to respond before we heard the explosion. Lester and I shared a look.

"You take one step out that door, Ranger, and you could blow it." He knew that if she was hurt, I was going to kill the son of a bitch that hurt her. Which could look very bad. The wrong witness and it could be my head on the cartel chopping block.

"Is she hurt?" I asked quickly.

There was a pause. Forget going out there, I was going to find Tank and kill him. "I don't see her man."

"What do you mean you don't see her?"

"There's too much chaos. A lot of the guests were leaving. Too many bodies."

"What about Natalie?" Lester blurted out.

Another pause. "Maybe. If it's her, she looks okay. I'll keep an eye out. You two go downstairs and triage with the medics that are showing. I'll send Bobby in."

We nodded and started down the stairs. Our women and the blast were momentarily put out of our minds. In situations with spouses, girlfriends or boyfriends, the mate is immediately assigned to desk duty. When it came to Stephanie, Tank immediately took charge of the situation. He knew that he was the only other person I would take orders from. The crowd had thinned a little, but there was work to be done.

I didn't see Stephanie among them.

Lester came up behind me. "Tank will say something if he finds her. She's got nine lives, man."

"That's what I'm afraid of. Eventually, they run out."

He patted my shoulder and we got to work. I knew if I continued to think of her, nothing would be done and more bodies would be piled up. If she was dead…

My heart skipped a beat. If she was dead, there would be no reason to live. She was my heart and she saved me from my worst enemy. Myself.

Stephanie was one of the few people that made me feel like myself. When I was with her I was the man, Carlos, which I was before the Army. I needed her so that I didn't become the trained killing machine the army had made. The minute I become him is the minute that Carlos dies.

And if she's dead…

I closed my eyes. No more. I had to have faith that Tank would find her.

Lester and I connected with the medics and began giving basic medical care. Each person I wanted to ask if they had seen what happened. If they had seen a curly headed woman alive.

But I didn't. I focused on the task at hand.

After a few hours, the only people left were the unhurt and patients waiting for an ambulance. Lester, Bobby and I went outside to see if there was anything else we could do.

"Oh thank God." Lester said, when Natalie threw herself at him. She had tear tracks from the smoke and soot lining her face. We could see new lines forming. She had a gash on her forehead that had been treated. Lester hugged her tightly, as if he was never going to let her go.

And he shouldn't. They were perfect for each other.

"Are you okay?"

"Fine. Just a few bumps and bruises. Richard and Anne are back at the office. They have a few burns, and Anne sprained her wrist, but it doesn't look like anything major."

"What about Stephanie?" I asked impatiently.

Her eyes watered and she shook her head. My stomach dropped. "I don't know. One minute she was there, the next… It's all a blur."

Lester hugged her and I felt my knees wobble. "We'll find her man." Bobby said, holding my arm, effectively holding me up.

I took a deep breath. I felt Ranger coming back into my mind and limbs. Ranger, the tracker, the killer was once again in control. I was going to find her.

"Call the hospitals. See if she's been admitted." I said to Bobby.

He nodded. "What are you going to do?"

"Search here."

"Ranger, there's too many…"

I didn't hear the rest of the sentence. I was already on the move.

Each person I passed, I made sure it wasn't her. There were too many people here that I couldn't check them all, but if she was looking for me, we'd find each other.

I reached the back of the parking lot. No sign of her. I called Bobby. "Any sign of her?"

"None of the hospitals have a woman matching that description."

"Keep looking." And I hung up.

I did something I hadn't done in a long time. I prayed. I prayed that my angel was still alive.

And then I heard the most beautiful thing in the world.

"If you try to get me into this ambulance, you are the one who is going to need the ambulance." Stephanie said, her New Jersey accent standing out among the Texan twang.

I whipped my head around and there she was. Fifty feet outside of my line of sight. Her dress was a little torn and she was completely covered in soot, but she looked fine.

If she knew that I had almost missed her, Stephanie would have no problem about telling me to be aware of my surroundings. "I found her." I said into my mic. There was a round of 'thank you god's' and 'is she okay's'. "She looks fine." I said.

More relieved sighs.

I walked over and watched as her brow furrowed. She reached and rubbed the back of her neck. She looked up and saw me. Her face brightened and she ran to me. The medic yelled at her, but she ignored him.

I caught her and hugged her to me.

"I'm okay." She said. I just hugged her tighter. I wasn't going to let her go.

"I'm okay… but you might kill me." She gasped, gently tugging my ear. I chuckled and let her go enough to breathe. I saw the medic behind us, giving us a look of disapproval.

"Report." I barked.

"She seems fine. Just a few cuts on her legs and road rash, but I want to take her in for a CT. She might have a concussion."

She rolled her eyes at me. "And I said I'm fine." Stephanie said to the medic. She glared at him.

I turned her back to me. "Do you feel faint? Like you're going to be sick? Have you forgotten anything?"

"No, no, and I remember something about blushing later."

I grinned. That's my girl. "She's fine."

"But…"

"She's. Fine. We have a medic on staff and if she gets worse we'll bring her in."

"I don't like this."

"Too bad. Now give me the AMA." Stephanie barked.

The medic paled and nodded quickly. He stumbled into the ambulance.

"Babe. I think you scared him."

"Well I want to get back to what we were discussing before." She let her hands rub against my chest inside my coat. "I have a feeling I'm going to be blushing a lot tonight."

I grinned. "We'll get back there."

"Good." She took the form from the now surly medic. He crossed his arms and waited.

"I don't like this." He said.

"Point well taken." She replied. She signed it with flourish and handed it back. "I know all of the signs of bad things. I promise that I will get myself to the hospital if they appear. Cross my heart."

He narrowed his eyes, then sighed. "Fine. Just take it easy, okay?"

"Sure."

I continued to grin and took her under my arm. "You just lied to that medic." I said when we were a safe distance away.

"Who, me?" She smiled sweetly at me.

"Smartass."

"Yes, and you love me for it."

I kissed her deeply, showing my love for her. She moaned and was about to slip her tongue into my mouth when Natalie came over.

"Oh jeez. Get a room."

"Well, we're trying." Stephanie gritted out. Her eyes were dark blue from lust and irritation.

Natalie smiled and hugged Stephanie. "I'm just glad you're okay."

"Me too." They pulled away. "How are Anne and Richard?"

"Anne's in shock but okay. Richard is spilling his guts."

I felt my eyebrow rise.

"Well, as much as a CIA trained spy can spill his guts."

"Good. And the others?"

"The agents you saved were able to get Julio. He's not talking but the three they caught after him are. He'll be going away for a long time."

Stephanie's shoulders sagged. She turned to me. "Do you think the cartel will come after us for this?"

"It's hard to say."

"I doubt it." Natalie said. "The cartel was done with Julio already. The fact that he's been arrested speeds up their time table to find a new leader. If we didn't get him, he'd probably be dead in a few months. I wouldn't expect a fruit basket from them, but they're probably thankful."

"Aren't they worried he'll talk?"

This time Lester shook his head. "They have enough with the lower dealers that they don't need to make a deal with him. His information is worthless and the dealers don't know enough to stop the cartel completely. They've insulated themselves well."

I chimed in. "So we'll take the approach you do with spiders."

"Ignore it till someone else comes by and squishes it?"

I smiled. "Pretty much. But I'll have one of the guys keep an ear to the ground, just in case."

"So it's over?" She asked.

Natalie nodded. "We've done all we can, and a little more. It's time to go home."

We started walking to our cars. Natalie was under Lester's arm and I put Stephanie back under mine.

Home.

That sounded really good right now. I looked at Stephanie out of the corner of my eye. She was smiling.

We may be going back to Trenton, but right now, I knew I was home. It wasn't the place you filled with things, but the people and memories that you have that make it home. And that's what Stephanie was to me.

"Don't forget our deal." She whispered coyly in my ear.

"Never in a million years."

"Oh boy!"