I had been up since dawn. After spending hours searching through Stephanie Plum's life, I had not come up with much. From what I could see, she had left Trenton after her marriage had fallen apart. It appeared that she relocated to Atlanta to work for a branch of the local FBI. Stephanie was only employed there for for about a year, then she left. I debated hacking into her employment file then thought it would be simpler to call a friend I had who worked in her building. After searching through several records I found out the address she had listed on her license was a vacant lot. There was no trail to follow on her credit cards. The digital foot print on Stephanie plum had also been kept minimum. I could not find a single social media account , email or IP address. There was not a single bill in her name for any service provider. Babe was practical off the grid, it was like she was hiding from something.

I picked up the phone and dialed Tank.

"Yeah, Ranger?"

"When is the last time you heard from Stephanie?"

"Been a while."

"What about Lula, when is the last time she was in touch with Steph?"

"I don't know. They don't talk as much as they used to. The kids and the job keep Lula pretty busy. Why are you calling all of a sudden after three years asking about Bomber?" Tank yawned.

"I ran into her the other night and she seemed like she might be... struggling."

"You don't say? Are you talking financially or otherwise," Tank inquired?

"Both maybe," I sighed.

"Hmmh."

"Is that all you have to say about this situation? I thought you liked Stephanie,"I grumbled.

"Bomber like a sister to me. Ranger, you're my best friend, so I'm trying to be civil here, man," Tank told me in an annoyed tone.

"What's that supposed to mean, Tank" I demanded?

"It means you broke that woman's heart and then ran away to Miami like a punk and a coward. You left the girl hurting and you never even looked back. Everyone thought you were building a something with her. Why did you string her along like that man?"

"So, she wasn't good when I left?"

"Not even a little bit. You didn't even have to talk to her to know how much pain she was in. She was hurt and lonely. Lula had me and even Connie had found someone. Poor Bomber had nothing but a broken heart. I wasn't the least bit shocked when Morelli was able to charm his way back into her life," Tank explained.

"So what happened there, with her and Joe? Why did they get divorced?"

"You wanna know, man up and ask Stephanie," Tank said.

~XOXO~

It was early afternoon when I strolled into the local FBI building to meet with Paxton Morgan. Pax and I had worked together in the past and I was hoping he could give me some intel on Steph.

"Well look what the wind blew in," Paxton joked as he stood to greet. me. "It's Been awhile since you brought your mug around Manoso."

"Still the same huh, Morgan" I replied?

"Have a seat Ranger and tell me what sling you got backside into this time," Morgan laughed.

"Nothing like that. I came to get some information from you."

"With the resources, you got over at your place. What could you possible need to know that you can't already dig up?"

"What can you tell me about Stephanie Plum?"

Paxton reclined back in his seat and smiled fondly.

"She came down here from Trenton to a conference. Knocked the socks off of everyone. Before she went back home we offered her a job. At first, she gave us a solid no. Said something about helping her husband with is career. About a week later she called and wanted to know when she could start."

"How did she do here?"

Morgan paused and thought for a moment.

"She is a great worker, comes in early stays late. The woman is a brilliant researcher and she has an incredible ability to pick up on details most just people don't see. But I could see she was wrestling with some issues. That spark that attracted us to her at the conference was gone. She could become strangely quiet on occasion. Sometimes she seemed distant. Once a guy from another department asked her out on a date. Not only did she turn him down, but she hurt his feeling. The guy walked away more that just a little embarrassed."

"Wow. Tell me, just between me and you. Is there any chance that she is working undercover for the FBI," I asked hoping that would explain why my Babe was on the pole.

Morgan shook his head no.

"After about a year I could see her getting restless with her desk job. She had passed the physical requirements to start training as a field agent. We gave her the paperwork but no one could convince her to sign up. Then one day out of nowhere she turned in her letter of resignation. When I offered her a letter of reference, she said she didn't need one. I asked if she had another more lucrative offer lined up somewhere else. She said no, she just need some time to herself."

~XOXO~

It was late into the evening when Lester walked into my office.

"Sup Primo. Did you check out the newest client? I left the file for you on your desk.

"Nah, I have not had the time."

"Me and Hal are headed out to get dinner. You interested?"

"Hey Les, when is the last time you heard from Stephanie ?"

"Bomber? Man it's been a long time. To keep the peace with her husband she stayed away from us."

"Got to love that man."

"Yeah, especially after she caught him playing the family man with another woman and her kids," Santos informed bitterly.

"He was cheating on her?"

"Morelli was practically living with this other woman. Driving the kids to school and everything."

"Why did she even marry him in the first place, Les,?"

"Best I could tell was that her self-esteem took a real hit after you two broke up. Oh, wait you couldn't break up cause you don't do relationships," Lester laughed with bemusement.

"I got work to do. You two go ahead," I told Santos."

The things people had told me about my Babe replayed in my head over and over again. Shards of regret shredded my emotions like glass as I wondered could this have been my fault. Did I leave her vulnerable to falling prey to Morelli's charm? Stephanie Plum quiet and distant what was that about? Tank and Lester had booth seemed less that thrilled with me when I brought up Stephanie. What was going on with the woman who had stolen my heart from the first time I'd met her?

The entire situation with Stephanie had sent my brain into over drive. I decide to take a ride to help clear my head. After a few hours, I found myself sitting in the parking lot of the strip club. As if I were on auto pilot in an absent minded fog I had driven there. It was well into the wee hours of the next day before I saw Stephanie being escorted out of the club by one of the bouncers. I watched her get into her car and drive away. Without a second thought, I put my car in gear and followed behind her. Stephanie turned off the highway on to a dark rural back road. After driving for several miles she pulled into an old abandoned industrial park. I continued my tail at a distance behind her. abruptly Stephanie sped around the perimeter. She pulled a U-turn and cut off my escape to the only exit out of the parking lot. Then Babe exited her vehicle and angrily stalked over to my car. I stepped out of the car and walked over to her. I fought the urge to take her in my arm and tell her I was here for her. After all this time my Babe was standing right in front of me. Oh how I had missed everything about her.

"What, Manoso! Is there something I can do for you," she screamed? The expression she wore was haunting. Stephanie's eyes were filled with frustration, anguish, pain, and rage.

"Babe"

"Stop calling me that, Ranger!" she said in a harsh whisper.

"You will always be my Babe," I insisted as I reached to zip her open windbreaker that revealed far too much.

Out of nowhere Stephanie stepped forward and grabbed my right hand with her Left. She used her right arm to push deep into my chest and throw me off balance. Then she used her left leg to knock me off my feet. I looked up at her the from the ground in amazement. If she were anyone else I would have seen this coming, but not from my Babe. I was both shocked and impressed. Stephanie knelt down next to me.

"I'm not your entertainment, a line item in your budget, or your Babe," she said in an icy voice. As quickly as she had knelt down Steph was back on her feet. She spun on her heals, got back in her car and peeled out of the parking lot wheel screeching.

As I angled into my SUV the corners of my mouth tipped into a smile.

"Proud of you Babe!"

She had spotted me tailing her, then managed to cut me off. The leg sweep take down was just the icing on the cake. Now I was even more determined to find out what my Babe had been up to. My cell phone rang interrupting my thoughts.

"Yo, your timing is perfect. How soon can you be down in Atlanta? I need your help on some search information. I told the man on the other end of the phone."

"Gottcha boss ,"Hector replied.