WARNING: This story touches on sensitive subjects, such as rape, religion and mental health. If you are triggered by any of these topics please don't read.

I stepped out of the building housing the local Boys and Girls Club and glanced over at Bobby. "That was adorable."

The grin he wore told me he'd enjoyed the event maybe even more than I had. "It was. I can't wait to show the guys the pics of the two little boys dressed as Rangemen for Halloween."

"That was the shit," I agreed as we headed for our SUV. "Beautiful will be sorry she missed it."

"I know." Bobby opened the driver's door and angled in. "For someone who continually says she doesn't want kids, she always loves coming to the events the club holds."

I opened the passenger door and hopped in beside him. "I think she's just afraid of the responsibility."

"You could be right about that," Bobby said as he started the Escalade. "Though now that she and Ranger are married, maybe that will change."

"Maybe," I replied as I considered Bobby's statement. For years my cousin stated he didn't do stupid things like marriage and kids. Of course, that was after he did both with Rachel. While he wasn't the best father to Julie when she was little, with Steph's encouragement, he's become much better at being more involved in his daughter's life over the last couple of years. I'd bet the title to my cherry red mustang convertible, that if Stephanie changed her mind and decided she wanted a baby, he'd do his best to give her one.

I leaned forward and took a good look out the windshield. The sun was setting earlier and earlier as we pushed toward winter. In a way, it was depressing. Between the pressure of the upcoming holidays, the cold weather, and the increasing darkness, the next few months would be stressful. As an original core team member and a Rangeman founder, I felt as if it was my job to keep up morale whenever possible. "It's gonna be dark soon. How about we surprise the guys with some pizza from Shorty's?" With tomorrow being Halloween, it meant tonight was mischief night and extra shifts for a lot of the guys.

"I think that's an excellent idea," Bobby said as he pulled out of the parking space and turned toward our favorite pizza place.

A comfortable silence fell between us, allowing me to easily change the subject. My curiosity was off the charts about his relationship or apparent lack thereof, with a certain leggy brunette. "So, what's up with Celeste?"

Bobby glanced at me and then back to the road. "What do you mean?" He knew exactly what I meant, and I knew his question was nothing more than a stall tactic.

"Well, after that drunken night at Club Saturn and the resulting walk of shame you made the next morning, I expected to see a lot more of her."

He grimaced. "Yeah, well, you expected wrong."

That was a damn shame since we all liked her and thought she and Bobby were a good fit. "Why? What happened?"

"No chemistry is what happened," he replied.

I shook my head. "You two had plenty of chemistry at the club." Hell, with the way they'd been rubbing against each other on the dance floor, we'd all been convinced that someone would find them having sex in some dark corner of the club.

He smirked at my statement. "What we had was too much alcohol and a serious lack of sex in our lives. When we both were sober the next morning it was awkward between us. Especially since neither of us really remembered much from the night before."

I tried and totally failed to hide my grin. Getting too drunk to remember the fun part of a night was more my speed than Bobby's. "Damn, and you didn't even get to remember the good part."

"I know," Bobby sighed. "Anyway, we decided to try a real date. One where we stayed sober."

My first thought was, what fun was that, but I thought it better than sharing that sentiment with Bobby. "I'm guessing that didn't go well?"

He arched a brow as he looked over at me. "Dinner was great, and the conversation was stimulating. I really do enjoy her company."

"But?"

"But every time we started to kiss and move the situation into something more intimate, either she or I would start laughing. Everything just felt awkward and wrong, like I was kissing my cousin or something."

I shuddered as I thought about what it would feel like to kiss Celia, Alicia, or Sofia. Besides the fact that Ranger would kill me for kissing his sisters, just the thought of kissing my cousins felt wrong on so many levels. "Yeah, that's not uncomfortable or weird," I replied, letting the sarcasm and disgust come through thick in my tone.

"I know, right?" He shook his head. "So, we decided that we were just meant to be friends." He paused and gave me a side-eyed look. "What about you?"

I knew what he was asking, but I wasn't interested in having that conversation, so I decided to throw his question back at him. "What about me?"

"Aside from whatshername that you brought to Club Saturn; I haven't seen you pick up a woman in a long time." He glanced over at me again. "I'm talking months. I also know nothing happened with her that night."

"How would you know that when you were drunk off your ass?"

"Ram told me. So, what's going on with you?"

"Nothing is going on with me." How in the hell was I supposed to explain to him that I, Lester Mateo Santos, self-proclaimed forever bachelor, and player, had fallen in love with a woman based almost completely on our written correspondence?

He took one hand off the wheel and motioned toward my waist. "Look, if you're having some performance issues, you need to tell me. We can run some tests-"

Horror streaked through me at just the idea of what he was alluding to and I held up a hand, cutting him off. "Just stop right there. I'll have you know everything is in perfect working order."

He arched a brow as if silently questioning the truth of my statement. "So, if everything is working, why aren't you dating? It's not like you to not be in a different woman's bed every chance you get."

Damn, I was going to have to come clean if I wanted him to not harp on me about this. "Okay fine," I said. "Do you remember that Blackmore takedown back at the end of January?"

"Of course."

"You know the terrified blonde that Beautiful was protecting in the lady's room?"

He nodded, then cut a glance at me. "What does she have to do with you not dating?"

"There was something about her that pulled at me. I felt this overpowering urge to protect and help her as much as I possibly could. So, I followed up with the police and then the people at the shelter where they sent the three women for help. They wouldn't let me see her while she was receiving therapy and going through rehab, but they did allow me to write to her."

"Write as in emails or snail mail?" Bobby asked.

"Write as in actual letters with pen and paper," I clarified. "I didn't expect her to write back, but she did, and we started corresponding." I turned my head to look out the passenger window as I thought about the letters tucked away in the top drawer of my nightstand. "Imagine my surprise when I realized that I'd fallen in love with her just from those letters."

"I'd ask if you were sure it's love, but you haven't had a serious date in almost nine months. That alone is a good indication of how strong your feelings are for her."

"I'm sure," I murmured, then turned to look at him again. "The problem is, she's disappeared."

My statement earned a frown from Bobby. "What do you mean she disappeared?"

"Well, in one of her letters she said that when deemed her well enough to leave, they were going to send her home to her family. But right before I received that letter, someone from the shelter contacted me stating that she'd up and walked away from the facility and they didn't know where she was."

Bobby's frown deepened. "That doesn't make any sense."

"I agree. I tried looking for her, but it was like she just vanished, and I haven't heard from her again."

"That's tough. I'm sorry, man," Bobby said. "But you had to know she would want to go back to her life and try and put what happened far behind her."

"If she really did go back to her life." I'd barely finished my sentence when my cell rang.

"That's probably Ram and Binkie wanting to know when we'll be back," Bobby said.

"Probably," I replied as I forced all thoughts of Casey from my mind. There was no point in dwelling on something I couldn't change.

"Knowing them, they're watching the security cameras for the club and know we've left the party," he said.

After the Boys and Girls Club was vandalized a few years ago, Ranger offered to install a few cameras and provide surveillance for free. It's one of the few charities he's serious about supporting.

I snorted. "God, forbid we partner with each other for anything."

"They're just mad that they didn't get to be the ones to drop off the donation check and enjoy the party," Bobby replied.

"True, but that's a core team honor" I replied then connected the call and put it on speaker. "Yo," I answered, totally expecting it to be one of our disgruntled partners.

"Santos," Vince's voice carried through the speaker, surprising me. "Police scanners show TPD just received a call on a potential jumper on the Lower Trenton Bridge. You and Brown are only a couple of blocks away. Half of TPD is currently on the other side of town dealing with a domestic turned hostage situation. What's left is trying to maintain their patrols, while also working the three alarm commercial building fire on North Olden Avenue. It's creating a traffic and spectator nightmare for them. Do you two feel like doing a favor and checking it out?"

I glanced at Bobby. "Are you feeling generous?"

He gave my question a shrug. "Why not? Maybe it will be a false alarm like the last one." The last time we were in the area during a jumper call it, thankfully, turned out to be nothing more than a blow-up doll tied to the bridge. "Besides-" He grinned, "It will irritate Ram and Binkie that we're rolling without them."

I matched his smile with one of my own. It had been a long time since I'd partnered with Bobby in the field. Not that I minded having Ram as a partner. He's actually a great partner. Still, once in a while, it's nice to just roll with my best friend.

"We're on it," I replied to Vince, then disconnected the call even as I remembered from the last call, the anatomically correct doll dressed in a sexy negligee and a black wig. Tank had been the one to find the doll and had taken heat from the guys about it for weeks. "If it is a doll," I said, redirecting the conversation back to the call. "We could prank Hal with it."

He frowned. "I think Kris might take issue with your joke."

"True." I winced. "Damn. I'm still not used to Hal being engaged."

We'd barely had time to get used to Hal having a girlfriend when he'd done the unimaginable at Steph's party by dropping to one knee and asking Kristina to marry him. The moment had been incredibly romantic and completely out of character for the big guy. Of course, she said yes and just like that, we gained another lovely woman into our Rangeman family.

That was just two and a half weeks ago, and I was struggling to wrap my mind around the situation. It was hard to believe mild-mannered, quiet, introverted Hal; Beautiful's Halosauras was engaged to be married. "Well, maybe we could prank Ram or Binkie," I offered, thinking again about our partners.

Bobby grinned as he pointed the Escalade in the direction leading toward the bridge. "We could always dress her up like a cowgirl and leave her in Woody's bed."

I matched his grin with one of my own. "Oh, please let it be another doll."

I want to give a big thank you to my beta readers Kellie Aleman, Geri Kelly and Emma Bates for helping me get this story ready to publish.