Author's Note: Thank you so much for all your wonderful reviews! I wasn't to reply to all of you, but I do want you to know that it means so much to me that you're reading this story & enjoying it as well! Thank you for adding me to your story alerts and your favorites list. You All Are Wonderful! Thank you!

Disclaimer: The characters are NOT mine and I am NOT making any money.

I am updating a day early. I think Wednesday will be my regular days for updating. SO please enjoy!

Chapter Two
Special Days & Special Friends

She didn't get any sleep last night. Oh she tried, but all she could do was toss and turn. Her mind was too busy running rampant with images of Ranger. What was he up to? Was he okay? Was his family going to be okay? Was he going after the man that killed his family? Tank had seemed so desperate and definitely concerned yesterday in Ranger's office. She couldn't see their faces, but she was sure Tank had been almost begging Ranger to change his mind. She knew better. Ranger wouldn't change his mind. He was as stubborn as her.

But what really kept her up all night was the finality in both their voices. It worried her and it definitely was scaring the shit out of her. So no matter how hard she tried, all she could do was toss and turn. She would just keep Ranger on her thoughts and in her heart. Just like she always did because she knew he would come back to her. He was Ranger, he was Batman, and he was invincible.

It was eight in the morning and she had been staked out in front of the homeless shelter; Hope House for the last two and a half hours. She still hadn't seen any signs of Dale but she wasn't giving up. She was definitely thankful for her two door Kia Forte. Abyss blue in color with black interior, it blended right in. Well it almost blended in, but she loved it anyway. And she got for a steal. Hell, she got it for free. A friend of her Grandmother's had passed away and left Grandma Mazur her new car. Yep! The Kia Forte! It was really nice. Hell, it was a lot nicer than just nice. She still couldn't believe her grandmother signed it over to her. She even insured it out the butt. She didn't want anything to happen to this beauty so she was being super careful with it.

Her new little Kia had a 2.0L engine with a hundred and seventy-three horsepower. It was able to get twenty-four miles to the gallon in the city and thirty-six on the highway. It had rear camera display and LED positioning lights. She wasn't sure what those were and she didn't care. It also had a power sunroof, heated seats, navigation system and a weather station thing. The heat and the air conditioning worked like a champ and she had a Boze stereo system in this thing. She hated that her grandmother's friend passed away, but she seriously loved this car. That's why lately, she'd been doing her captures with Big Blue which was indestructible or Lula's red firebird. But this morning she needed to blend in and Big Blue did not blend in. Lula wasn't up this early in the morning so she was all by herself. With her thoughts.

She shook her head, shaking away those darn thoughts. She couldn't take it anymore. She grabbed her phone.

"Hey Steph, what's up?" Mary Lou answered breathless. Steph could hear screaming in the background and something that sounded like an explosion. She was pretty sure the explosion was the television. She hoped so anyway.

"I need a night out. Can you get away?" Stephanie asked hopeful.

"Oh my God YES!" She practically screamed in the phone.

Steph laughed. "Need a break, huh?"

Mary Lou laughed. "You have no idea, honey. These boys are driving me nuts."

"Where do you want to go?"

"Out to dinner and then maybe a club so we can go dancing."

Steph liked that plan. "Where do you want to go to dinner?"

"Is Rossini's too fancy?"

Steph felt an ache at the mention of Rossini's. She had been there many times with Ranger and at the thought of Ranger made her spidey sense kick in and it made her heart heavy. She shook it off. She wouldn't let that interfere with her evening.

"I think that's a great idea. Then we head to that new club down town."

"Which one? I think there was two?"

Another explosion sounded over the phone and Mary Lou let out a soft curse word. "Turn that crap down." She yelled.

Steph smiled. "How about the one called Fire & Ice?"

"Ooooo, I've heard cool things about that one."

"I'll pick ya up at seven."

Another explosion and then screaming filled Steph's ear. "Can you make it six?" Mary Lou asked, sounding tired and out of patience.

Steph giggled. "I'll be there at six."

"Bless you."

Steph hang up the phone laughing. Maybe spending the evening with her best friend would take her mind off Ranger and this dreadful feeling.

R&SR&SR&SR&SR&SR&SR&SR&SR&SR&SR&S

Steph went shopping that afternoon and for the first time she didn't enjoy it. She did however get the cutest dress and some really sexy shoes. Now as she twirled in front of her mirror, she had to admit she looked damned good. The fit and flare dress was spa blue in color with yellow trim with a built-in bra, sleek racer back, and cut out sides. And its mid-thigh skirt wouldn't prohibited any movement as she danced. She decided on a pair of pale yellow kitten heels to match her gorgeous dress. She piled her curls on top her head with little tendrils escaping to caress her neck. Just a hint of blush, eye shadow, and several swipes of mascara completed her ensemble.

She dropped some hamster pellets and a carrot into Rex's glass aquarium. "Be good tonight, Rex and I'll do the same." She laughed at her own joke.

After grabbing her small pale yellow clutch, making sure she had all her essentials, she headed out the door. She made it to Mary Lou's place just as she came running out the front door. Mary Lou jumped into her Kia.

"Go, go, go!" Mary Lou shouted, giggling.

Steph laughed and took off. "Afraid they might stop you?" She teased.

Mary Lou smoothed the skirt of her black dress and sighed. "You have no idea, Girl. I almost didn't get out there."

"Well we're off to dinner and then the club and no one can stop us."

"Thank God!" Mary Lou exclaimed.

Rossini's wasn't too busy since it was only 6:15. The girls ordered their food; fettuccine alfredo for Steph and chicken parm for Mary Lou. And because Steph had to drive, they were sharing a marguerita. Steph took a long drink and let out a contented sigh as she sat the glass back down. Mary Lou chuckled as she picked it up just as quickly.

"So…" Mary Lou stressed giving Steph a know it all grin.

She gave her a look of innocence or maybe one of complete dumbfoundedness. "What?"

"Oh don't play dumb with me. Something's going on with you. Something serious. I can see it in your eyes."

Steph sighed in surrender. "Ranger's gone out of town."

ML nodded. "You mean like he's in the wind?" Steph nodded. "Damn that sucks, but doesn't he do that all the time?"

"Yeah, but it's just different this time."

"How?" ML gave her best friend her full attention.

Steph shrugged. "I don't know, Mary Lou. It just feels… final."

ML's brows furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean final?"

Another shrug. "I can't explain it. Something in their voices just seemed… off."

"Their?"

Steph nodded. "Ranger and Tank. I overheard them talking in Ranger's office about going after this man that's killed Ranger's family."

"Someone is killing Ranger's family?" ML asked shocked.

She nodded again. "Yep."

ML curled her lip. "Are they stupid?"

Steph let out a small chuckle. "For messing with Ranger, oh for sure."

"Sorry for changing the subject… now what about eavesdropping…"

She smiled at her best friend. "I did eavesdrop and oh Mary Lou, I wish I hadn't. I don't think this is just an average 'in the wind' thing for Ranger. I think it's much more serious."

"How much more serious?"

Steph chewed on her lower lip, trying to keep the tears at bay. "Deadly."

R&SR&SR&SR&SR&SR&SR&SR&SR&SR&S

That one little word said it all for Mary Lou. She was scared for her friend, but she put on a brave face and gave her best friend the night she needed. After dinner at Rossini's, they took off to the newest and hottest club in down town Trenton, Fire & Ice. Upon entering the club, the bass from the current song made Steph's ears cringe. It had been so long since she had been at the club she had completely forgotten the ear deafening music.

"I love this song." ML called out, already moving to the music. Within minutes, she had lost sight of Mary Lou as the song changed from one fast one to another. Steph drank a green apple martini and then a chocolate martini, but they did nothing for her. So she switched to a beer. The music was fast, upbeat with a good tempo but her heart wasn't in it. All she could think about Ranger and this feeling of dread that continue to wash over her.

She abandoned her half empty bottle of beer and told the bartender a bottle of water. She watched as her best friend had the time of her life dancing amongst the crazy youngsters. She was glad her friend was having a good time. She most certainly needed it.

After two more songs, ML finally noticed she wasn't there by her side. She came up to Steph, practically skipping. She grabbed her hand and tugged. "Come on, honey. You need to dance. You need to get all that crap out of your head. If only for a few minutes, you still need that few minutes." Mary Lou told her, dragging her out onto the dance floor.

Steph laughed at her best friend, but let herself get lost in the music. She bumped and grind along with Mary Lou laughing when the men around them were watching them in appreciation and urging them to do a little more. They laughed it off, doing their thing. She wished the Merry Men were here and maybe even Lula, but at the same time she was glad they weren't. She hadn't realized how much she missed her best friend.

Another hour of dancing and Steph was ready to call it a night. So was Mary Lou. They were both tired, wore out, and giggling uncontrollably. Steph had done danced off the little alcohol she had drank and ML hadn't had any. It was just a good night.

She tossed her keys to Mary Lou. "What's this?" She asked, catching the keys in her right hand.

"I'm not drunk but I did have two martinis and a beer. You can drive." She told her.

ML nodded and squealed with glee. "Something besides a minivan. EEK!" She exclaimed.

Steph laughed as she climbed into the passenger seat of her Kia.

Mary Lou climbed in too. "You can sleep on my couch if you want."

Steph gave her a grin. "I'd like that."

They made it back at Mary Lou's home without any trouble. ML made a bed on the sofa for Steph, but she didn't leave the living room. Steph didn't know if Mary Lou knew she wouldn't sleep or maybe she just wasn't ready for the night to end, but she didn't leave Steph's side. They laughed and talked until almost three in the morning before ML finally conked out. Steph snuck out at dawn after another night of no sleep.

R&SR&SR&SR&SR&SR&SR&SR&SR&SR&SR&S

Yesterday Dale Silverman had left Hope House at five minutes after nine. It was a good thing she had left early yesterday because if she hadn't she would have missed him. He returned to Hope House at 4:45. It closed at five. His bond was up in a week so Steph figured she had another four days of watching him; stalking him, making him her prey. And she was going to do exactly that. She was going to capture the slippery asshole and enjoy taking him back to the cop shop.

Last night she spent her evening hanging out with her best friend. Tonight she was going to spend the evening with her parents. She forced herself not to cringe. Instead she dialed her parents' number.

"Stephanie, is everything okay?" Her mother's way of answering.

Steph smiled. "Everything is fine mom. I was just calling to let you know that I was thinking of dropping by this evening for dinner."

"Stephanie, you know you're always welcome to dinner."

"I know. Just making sure."

"And everything is okay?" Her mom asked again.

Steph held back her laugh. "Yep, everything is fine." Well as fine as it can be with Ranger in the wind.

"Good. I'll see ya at six."

Steph said good bye and hung up the phone. She was actually looking forward to dinner with her parents and Grandma Mazur. Maybe she should invite Joe. Her and Morelli were in the off position in their relationship right now, but lately they were getting along a lot better. She hadn't heard from him lately, but the last time she talk to him, he told her he was doing a little undercover work for the FBI. He was hoping for a permanent position with them so he was willing to do anything to get that chance.

She didn't want to bother him, but she shrugged that off and dialed his number anyway.

"Cupcake!"

He actually sounded happy about hearing from her. Good.

"Hey Joe. You busy?"

He let out a sigh. "Just taking a quick lunch break at Pinos. What's up?"

"You wanna come to my parents' place for dinner this evening?"

"What's the occasion?"

Steph grinned. "It's just a dinner. No special occasion."

"Six?"

"Yep."

"I'll be there."

"See ya then."

"Bye Cupcake."

Even though she felt at peace with her mother and even Joe, her spidey sense wouldn't leave her alone and that feeling of dread had yet to leave.

R&SR&SR&SR&SR&SR&SR&SR&SR&SR&S

She was at her parents' place at ten minutes til six. Her mother and grandmother greeted her at the door with smiles.

"Hello Stephanie, you're early. You can set the table." Her mother replied before Steph could clear the front steps.

She smiled. "I'd be happy to. I invited Joe."

Grandma Mazur grinned. "That handsome Italian cop?" She asked and Steph nodded. "Oooo, eye candy during dinner."

Helen rolled her eyes. Steph was proud of that eye roll. "Calm yourself, mother. He's too young for you." She told her mother before turning to Steph. "The more the merrier."

Steph chuckled as they made their in the house. She sniffed and moaned in approval. It smelled so good. She wondered what her mother was cooking. She suddenly found it odd that her mother hadn't told her. That was normally the first thing she told her when talking about dinner. How strange. As she made her way towards the living room to greet her dad, her mother and grandmother headed towards the kitchen.

"Hey daddy!" She greeted her dad with a kiss to the forehead.

He patted the hand she placed on his arm with affection, his eyes never leaving the hockey game on television. "Hey Pumpkin. How was your day?"

"It was good, daddy."

"Good."

Her dad's attention was back on the game. Well, his attention never really left. She shook her head and chuckled some more. The doorbell ring and Steph called out that she would get it. Joseph Morelli was standing on the other side and he looked damn good. Wearing a pair of dark blue jeans and a white t-shirt that show off his Italian heritage and those bulging muscles in his biceps.

"Hey Joe."

He kissed her forehead. "Hey Cupcake." He sniffed. "Something smells good."

"I agree but you know I haven't a clue what it is."

He dropped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her towards the kitchen. "Then let's go find out, shall we?"

They entered the kitchen that way and her mother smiled. She still had high hopes of her marrying Morelli. She grabbed the dinner plates and silverware and almost run towards the dining room. She wasn't ready to see that look on her mom's face.

After setting the table and bringing in all the covered dishes, they sat down to enjoy dinner.

"Mom, why is everything covered?"

Her mom suddenly (and strangely) got shy. "I tried a new recipe today. Something I haven't done in a long time. I'm a little nervous."

Steph had never seen this side to her mom. But she liked it. "I'm sure it's delicious, mom. Especially since you fixed it."

Helen smiled. "Thank you, dear."

Her mother uncovered Italian baked chicken breasts with twice baked potatoes and creamed peas. The peas had a little bit of 'gravy' as did the chicken. It all smelled delicious and tasted even better.

"Mrs. Plum, this is absolutely delicious."

Steph giggle when her mother blushed at Joe's compliment.

"Thank you, Joseph."

They ate in silence for a few minutes but Steph didn't want silence, she wanted conversation.

"Anything exciting happen lately, Grandma?"

"Well…" And the conversation from there never lagged. Her Grandmother told her all about two elderly women, Betty and Veronica fighting over a new resident at the senior center. But the new resident, Henry was interested in Grandma. And Grandma had a hot date on Friday night with him. Her mother didn't like the sound of that but her father was for anything that would keep her Grandmother out of the house for a longer period of time.

"Mom, anything interesting happen in the Burg lately?" Steph asked, looking for some gossip.

She sat her fork down gently and nodded slowly. "Mrs. Kolaski's daughter, Janet is involved with a…" she dropped her voice to a whisper. "Married man." Helen picked up her fork and went back to eat as if she had never said that.

Steph grinned. "Any idea who the married man is?"

"Mrs. Kolaski said it was Jeffrey Picksman."

Steph's mouth dropped. "Her boss?! The lawyer?"

Helen nodded. "That's the one."

"Isn't he an active member at church?" Another nod from her mother. "That's a shame, isn't it, Mom?"

"It so is."

"Hey mom, do you know Dale Silverman?"

She thought for a minute before shaking her head. "I don't know Dale, but I do know his parents."

"Would they lie for Dale?"

She shook her head in distaste. "The Silvermans are not very nice people. When their oldest was eighteen, they kicked him out. They didn't even give him time to find an apartment or a job. I heard he ended up homeless for a while. Their next two children had time to prepare before their parents kicked them out. But I don't think their oldest ever quite recovered from kicked out."

The Silvermans oldest child must be Dale. After be thrust out into the world at eighteen with no warning whatsoever, he probably did whatever he had to do to survive. The question was… what?

She helped her mother clean up after dinner, shocking her in the process.

"Dinner was really good, Mom. You'll have to show me how to fix it."

Steph was sure her mother was having a heart attack. She stood in front of her clutching her chest, her mouth gaped open, mimicking a fish out of water.

"Stephanie Michelle Plum, did you just ask me to teach you to cook something?" Helen asked her daughter.

Steph smiled. "I did, but don't make a big deal out of it." She told her.

Helen pulled her daughter into her arms, giving her a hug. "Oh sweetie, I'll be happy to teach you how to make anything. You just let me know when."

"I will for sure, but no talk of marriage or babies." Steph warned her.

Helen smiled. "I promise. No talk of marriage or babies."

She returned her mother's hug, then grabbed her goodbye bag of goodies and said bye to her dad and grandmother. She walked out the front door and startled when she saw Joe.

"I thought you left."

"I was going to but…" He trailed off as they walked to their vehicles.

"But what?"

He crowded her against her car, his mouth brushing her ear. "I wanted a more personal good bye." He murmured. His tongue traced the shell of her ear and she shivered.

She pressed a hand to his chest and shook her head. "I'm not in the mood, Joe."

"Is this about Ranger?" He accused.

Steph gawked at him. "What does Ranger have to do with me not wanting to have sex with you?"

Morelli shrugged sheepishly. "It normally does."

She shook her head. "No it doesn't. It never does. It has to do with you and me and only us."

His hands gripped her waist, pulling her towards him. "Come on, Cupcake. The boys miss you."

She pushed against him, grinning. "Well the girls don't miss you."

His hand went to his chest. "Ouch, you wound me Cupcake."

Steph laughed. "Yeah I seriously doubt that." She teased.

"You know we're better as friends, right?" Joe confessed.

Steph grinned and nodded. "You're right. We are much better as friends."

"Friends with benefits?" Joe asked hopefully.

That made her laugh. "I don't think so, Morelli." She punched his arm playfully.

He laughed. "Hey! A guy had to try."

She rolled her eyes. "I do love you though."

Joe's eyes got round. "I love you too, Cupcake. Always have and always will."

She gave him a hug and that he gladly returned. He kissed her forehead once they stepped away from each other.

"Did you hear about Ranger?" He asked gently.

She nodded. "He's gone out of town."

"To capture a killer." Joe stated.

She nodded again. "I know."

Joe sighed. "To capture a killer that's been killing his family and friends."

She nodded a third time. "I know this."

Joe shoved his hands in his pockets. "This guy could be after you, Steph. That's why I continue to warn you away from Ranger. Him and his past is going to get you hurt or killed."

"Joe, I've constantly got someone after me that wants to hurt me or kill me. Ranger's past doesn't matter to me and as my friend, I asked that you respect that."

Joe nodded firmly. "I'm always here if you need anything. Anything at all."

She smiled at him before giving him another hug. "Thanks Joe."

And to make her day just a little bit more special, Silverman showed his face at Hope House at 4:45 that afternoon.