Mostly great reviews and comments, and a little grouching too! Proudofyoubabe guessed that Bobby had cancer, and maybe one or two others had thought of it. Ybanormalmom, had some great ideas. Told her I'd be taking those and leaving my note. Ha!

One reviewer just commented they were all still jerks. Well, okay. I mentioned that Ranger is jaded in the author note in the last chapter. Yes, he can be kind of a jerk. Jenarden made a good point in her review. He really had nothing to do with her complete downfall, at least as far as he knows. He is mostly guilty of just inaction where she was concerned. I didn't read JE's book 21, but I did read 19 and 20. Ranger is pulling away from her. He's not around as much, and doesn't talk to her as much. This story kind of follows that a bit.

Alix33 is coming up behind me and cleaning up my punctuation. Thanks girl!

Chapter 14

Stephanie was picking at her lunch. It was hard to believe that this was the same woman who had always eaten meals with such gusto. I asked, "Babe, would you like some dessert? They have excellent key lime pie here."

A shrug. "Okay..." Fuck, I'm beginning to hate that one word.

I ordered the dessert and spoke again. "I like Dr. Ortiz. How about you?"

Looking down at her plate, moving her food around, she said, "She seems nice enough."

"I hope you'll talk to her and let her help you. I know you've had a lot of changes in your life and she can help you work through them and put the bad behind you."

Still looking down, she mumbled, "She can't make me forget..."

"No, she can't do that. I've never forgotten a single man's name that I lost, here or in the military. I don't want to forget, because I don't want to make the same mistakes again."

She looked up at me then. "You admit you make mistakes?"

"It was amusing, you thinking of me as a super-hero, but I was never that. I'm human, just a man. I made mistakes in battle, and I made mistakes with you."

"Why are you helping me now? You left without saying goodbye, then came back and treated me like...you did."

"I was angry at your choices, and angry to see that you were still making bad ones. I'm helping you now because I care about you. I don't want you alone and suffering. How is it that your friends and family didn't know your desperate situation? What about Mary Lou? After all the years you were together, why did Morelli just turn you out with nothing?"

She looked at me again. This time her eyes were burning into me, like they were accusing me of something. I raised an eyebrow and was going to ask her to explain her feelings. For that mater, I wanted an explanation for the slap she'd dealt me. I went to open my mouth, when she spoke again. "I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"Stephanie..." I started and then thought of Dr. Ortiz's words and stopped, then just sighed, and let it go for now. Hopefully, she'd eventually open up to me. With Stephanie, who knew? She never talked much about her personal feelings or what was in her head in the past.

We spent the afternoon shopping, and I bought her some items to start her a new wardrobe. I took her in a department store where we purchased some personal items like makeup, hair products and accessories for her. She had always liked my shower gel, and I asked her if she wanted some like it, and she shook her head, no. I was a bit disappointed at that, and reminded again that we had a long road ahead of us yet.

I encouraged her to pick out a couple of pairs of shoes and sandals, but the only thing she really got excited about, were the few items she chose for Angel. I told her that she, Lula, and Betina could have a spa, and salon day later in the week if she wanted. At this point, I hoped any little thing would make her feel a little better or at the most, make her smile.

Grace called on the way home with an appointment for Stephanie with her own doctor for a routine physical the next afternoon, and Sara called later when we arrived home. I asked, "Were you able to get us an appointment with the specialist?"

"He'll see her, but he has a lot of questions, Carlos."

"Sara, I'm working on this thing. I'll likely have to talk to a social worker and tell them the truth. I know one now, and I'm hoping that being able to tell her that we've begun treatment will help with getting custody of the child."

"If she needs surgery, he won't do it under these circumstances."

I sighed. "When will he see her?"

"He'll see her early tomorrow morning, 8:30 am."

"Fine. We'll be there, and thank you again."

"How is Stephanie?"

"She's fair. She started seeing a psychologist today."

"How is Angel?"

"She seems happy. She's a good baby."

"Keep moving forward. I'll be here if you need me."

"Appreciate that."

I had no damn choice. I needed to call Sylvia Martin, and I needed to lay this mess out for her and get her aid in sorting it. She could help me, and hopefully give us temporary custody so we can continue with help for Angel. I was surprised to feel that what happened to that little baby was now very important to me.

She had taken an instant liking to Lester. He was bouncing her on his knee and making faces for her when we came in, making her giggle and squeal with enthusiasm. Stephanie's face had softened, and a genuine smile had appeared for the first time since arriving here. No, since over two years ago.

I sent Fenton in the U.K., an email and told him that I had some personal business going on, and apologized for the delay in responding. I asked him if I could conference call with Tank in two days and talk. Then I called Sylvia Martin. "Mr. Manoso? What can I do for you? Is the baby alright?"

"Yes and no. She's safe and happy, but I need your help."

"I don't understand."

"It's kind of a long story. I was wondering if we could meet in person."

"If this has to do with the child's welfare, absolutely. When?"

"We have a doctor appointment with a specialist about her hearing issue tomorrow morning. Would you like to come here after? I'm not sure that Stephanie will want to go to your office, and this is delicate."

"Alright. Just call me when you're heading home."

"I will. Thank you."

Dr. Paul Canalis began to explain the three main reasons for hearing loss in children as he began his examination of Angel. Basically broken down into, unknown, genetic, or non-genetic. Ear infections were the main cause in children and very treatable, congenital or genetic, or present at birth. There there was acquired, meaning it appears after birth for some reason like from a disease or accident.

After he finished examining her he said, "She does have significant hearing loss. From here we set up audio testing, do an MRI to look for any scarring or physical damage, and we can do genetic testing which includes samples from both parents."

I sighed. "Doctor, we're not her biological parents. We're her guardians. We don't know who they were and probably never will. Can you arrange for the other tests?"

He turned and looked at me. "Sara is your sister, Mr. Manoso?" I nodded. "I respect and trust her, so I just have one question? Is there anything illegal going on here."

"The child was wronged, she was abandoned at birth. I'm working on the legal part now. Our primary intentions are to help this baby and give her the chance she wouldn't have otherwise gotten. She wouldn't have lived if Stephanie hadn't found her when she did."

He nodded. "Good enough. I'll have my staff schedule the two tests."

As we were heading to the car to leave, I called Ms. Miller to tell her that we were on our way home. I looked over at Stephanie. She would be terrified if she knew that the social worker was coming back to the house.

Sylvia Martin, officially representing Child Protective Services, arrived just a few minutes after we did, and I took her to my office to talk privately while the others in the house were otherwise occupied. Ms. Martin looked both concerned and curious, I guess to be back here again so soon. "Can I get you something to drink? I have a long story to tell you."

"Maybe later. I'm fine now. Curious about what you have to tell me."

I smiled at her. "I can see that written on your face." We both sat and I began. "I own a security company, and began doing bounty hunting when I came out of the military. Prior to moving back down here, I lived in Trenton, New Jersey, for the last three years. The two women you met are from there. Stephanie, the one with the baby, was a bounty hunter that I mentored. We became friends and worked together on occasion."

She nodded and I continued. "Two years ago, one of my men was killed rescuing her from a dangerous situation. It was indirectly her fault, she'd been foolhardy in chasing a fugitive, and he'd gone to aid her that day. He was one of the owners of my company and one of my best friends. Several people were affected by his death, and emotions ran high. That day had not been the first time she'd been reckless, and there was of course anger directed at Stephanie."

There was a knock on the door and Lester stuck his head in. "Hey primo. Oh, excuse me, who's your lovely friend?"

I did a mental eye-roll at Lester, then noticed that Sylvia was smiling at him. A thought occurred to me, the fucking Lothario might be able to help here. "Lester Santos, this is Sylvia Martin. She's with Child Protective Services, and I asked her here for help with Angel. Ms. Martin, this is my cousin, the man I just told you about was his partner."

He walked in and reached for her hand and instead of shaking it, kissed it. This time, I did a real Stephanie Plum style eye-roll. Her smile got bigger. "I'm so sorry about your partner and friend."

He shrugged and sat down in the chair next to her. "Thanks. Did he tell you that we found out later he had cancer. Bob was brave, but wouldn't have wanted to suffer through that. He was a great guy."

She said, "Oh no, he hadn't told me that yet. He just finished telling me about his death and the hurt feelings about the event."

I started again telling the story and they both turned to me. "Anyway, after that happened, I unintentionally severed ties with Stephanie by moving back here to Miami. This was originally planned as being our home office. My two partners, including Lester, decided it was time to spread out. Over that two-year period, Stephanie fell on very hard times. I found her in Newark a couple of weeks ago while visiting Trenton on business, and she was not the same. Her living conditions were bad and she had the baby."

She looked confused. "I don't see where that concerns..."

"The baby is not hers," I added.

"Not hers? Whose baby is it then?"

"We don't know. She found the baby one night walking home from work. It had been discarded like trash near a dumpster, just born, umbilical cord still attached. Stephanie picked it up and took it home. She saved its life and kept it."

She swallowed. "That discarded garbage, is little Angel? Her name is very appropriate for her. Unfortunately, that sad story is not unique or unheard of. Safe-Haven Laws have helped with this problem, but this still happens with teens and drug users. This may explain why she's deaf, it could have happened in utero from drugs, during the birth, or when she was just dumped."

I nodded. "We took her to a specialist this morning. He's going to schedule tests. We need your help. I want to become her legal guardian and eventually adopt her. I need a birth certificate to get her treatment started properly. There's nothing we can do about the past and what wasn't done. Can you help us?"

She sighed. "Unfortunately, this will take time. I have to speak to my supervisor and she may want to do a home assessment herself right away. Normally, we would take the infant until the story and circumstances can be verified. Except for your gun wielding friend, your home seems safe."

"Ms. Martin. It cannot be verified. None of us were in touch with her at that time. You may verify my information, that I'm a business owner and you might even call the former police chief in Trenton to verify that I'm on the right side of the law. We're all professionally trained, and legally carry our weapons. Lula doesn't have a permit for Florida, and that is why she's in trouble here."

Lester snorted and mumbled. "That's not the only reason..."

I glared at him and Sylvia looked at him and then back at me. "Lula is a bit eccentric, and we tolerate her because she's our other partner's long time girlfriend."

She relaxed and said, "Oh, now I think I understand. Please call me Sylvia. Looks like we're going to be working together for a while."

I added, "And I hope in a positive way for Angel. I'm known as Ranger, and my given name is Carlos. You may call me by either."

She smiled and nodded. "We'll have to contact the local agency there in Newark. Try to find out if the parents or relatives are looking for the baby. I need to do the paperwork immediately to approve you for foster care. My department can work on getting her a birth certificate, and making her a legal U.S. citizen as well."

I furrowed my brows and asked, "Why would the New Jersey office even consider giving her back to the parents. She would have died horribly. According to Stephanie, rats were moving in on her when she arrived in that alley."

She made a face. "I agree, that's unspeakable. It's just a process, Mr... Ranger. They would like to find out for the purpose of prosecution of course, and it benefits the child to know who the parents are, and to have it on the birth certificate. Unfortunately, there may be relatives looking for the baby as well. We have to do the necessary steps before you can legally adopt her."

"I understand. The most pressing issue now is to get the birth certificate issued for Angel's treatment. Then to give me authority to allow any tests or treatments on her behalf."

She smiled at both of us. "I can help you with that. Once she's entered into our system, my office can authorize the necessary treatment for her."

Lester grinned and said, "That's great, Sylvia. By the way, you can call me Lester, Les, handsome, or I hope, eventually lover..."

I did a double eyebrow raise. Seriously? Romeo was in bad form today, and I hope he didn't send her running. This was maybe the worst of Lester I'd ever heard.

Then to my utter surprise, she actually giggled. I would be making damn sure that his dick or his tongue could back up what his mouth was promising. There was some serious business that needed her attention going on here, and I didn't need Lula's or Lester's shenanigans screwing it up!

Plus, the big bonus would be that if Sylvia was able fix this and give me custody; I was off the marriage hook...

TBC-