Okay, so I know everyone is pissed at Ranger (and me for how I'm writing this), but there is a reason. Thank you to all that have read and reviewed...I believe I've gotten back to everyone unless you reviewed as a guest. Here is the next chapter...

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The next morning, Stephanie tried calling Ranger again. Once again, she was met with the operator saying the number was disconnected. "I refuse to cry again," she told herself. Instead, she grabbed a box and went to her bedroom. She found her Rangeman uniforms and threw them in the box. Going through her drawers, she pulled out Ranger's t-shirts she had accumulated and placed them in the box as well.

Reaching for her phone, she called Manny. When he answered she asked, "Are you going to be leaving the office today?"

"Junior and I are leaving in about five to head to the bonds office. Are you okay?"

"Can you stop by here for a minute when you get a chance?" She heard him agree and then him hang up. Stepping in to the bathroom, she gathered Ranger's shower gel, his razor and toothbrush. Placing those in the box, she looked around the room for anything else that she needed to pack.

A few moments later, there was a knock at her door. Peeking out, she saw Manny and Junior standing in the hall. She opened the door, and they walked in. "Wifey, you okay?"

Not bothering to answer his question, she just said, "I need you two to do me a favor. I need one of you to go down to my car and remove any and all trackers. I need the other one to go through my purse and anything else you can think of and do the same. I don't want the trackers anymore."

Manny and Junior looked at each other, "What?"

"Please, just do it?"

Manny nodded and headed to her parking lot. He had placed most of the trackers and knew where to look. While he did that, Junior looked through Stephanie's purse and pulled out three different trackers. He asked to see her jewelry box and pulled four out of there.

"What's going on, Steph? Why are you doing this?" Junior was concerned and wanted to help but wasn't sure what was going on.

"I can't explain right now, but soon you will understand. I don't want to be an entertainment item in his budget, and I don't want him bleeding money from having you guys track me. It's just better this way."

Junior pulled her to him and hugged her tight, "Don't run away from us, Steph. I don't know what happened, but please, I'm begging you, don't run from us. Don't run from me."

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Later in the afternoon, Stephanie drove her Kia Soul to Rangeman and parked in the garage one last time. Grabbing the box from her back seat, she hit the button for the elevator and waited. Once she was in the elevator, she sat the box down and hit five.

She hesitated knocking on the door, but finally did. "Enter," she heard him yell.

Opening the door to Tank's office, Stephanie stepped inside and shut the door behind her. Walking over, she sat a box on his couch.

"What's that?" he asked as he nodded toward the box.

"Things I need to return to Rangeman." She took her phone out of her pocket, turned it off, and placed it on the box.

Tank looked at her face and didn't see the spark in her eyes. "Steph, what's going on?"

"I'm done, Tank. This contains everything I've ever had that belongs to Ranger. Uniforms, trackers, panic buttons, his shower supplies, and my phone. Please make sure he gets the box when he returns. Oh, and please, pull the guys from following me. I don't want him to bleed more money because of me."

Tank stood up and walked to Stephanie, "What the hell has he done?"

"He didn't do anything. I did. Please, I don't want to come between Ranger and his friends. You guys are all brothers. I've seen how you all watch out for each other. Don't let that die. Watch out for him. Just let me go on living my life and forget I ever entered yours. It will be easier this way"

Tank tried to grab her, but she dodged him and ran out of his office and down the stairs. Going back to his desk, he punched the button on his phone to call Ranger. When he received the same greeting Stephanie had, he slammed the phone down and called Miami.

"Rangeman Miami, this is Cole,"

"Cole, it's Tank in Trenton. Ranger there?"

"Yes, sir. I'll put you through."

"Yo."

Tank didn't waste words, instead he yelled, "What the fuck have you done?"

Tank heard Ranger sigh, "What have you heard?"

"I've heard that Stephanie is quitting Rangeman, that she's turned in her trackers, panic button, phone, uniforms, and whatever else of your shit that was at her apartment. What. The. Fuck. Have. You. Done?"

"She got too attached; I told her not to a long time ago. Probably best she's not working for Rangeman. She wants more than I can give her. Time to cut her lose and for her to move on."

"You are a dick, you know that? And why the hell did you change your phone number, and do you plan on giving it to me?"

"I disconnected my phone, because as of tonight I won't need it for a long time," Ranger replied.

"Fuck. When, where, and how long?"

"Got the call about thirty minutes before she walked into my office. Wheels up at 2100 tonight. At least 12, possibly 18 months plus." Ranger took a deep breath, "I'm going in deep, Tank. I don't know that I'll make it back."

"Why not just tell her?" Tank asked even though he knew the reason.

"I can't have her waiting and hoping for something that probably isn't going to happen. I know I should have told her, but she gave me news and I freaked. I hurt her, man. Bad and I wish I could fix it, but I can't. Just... take care of her for me."

Tank started to reply but heard the click that signaled Ranger hung up.

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Stephane had gone back home and packed up a lot of her things that she never used. She figured she needed to give things to charity to make room for the baby. "What the hell am I thinking? I can't raise a baby in this apartment. No way in hell. Crap, I need a new job and a new place to live."

After she dropped off her donations, she noticed a vehicle that seemed to be following her. She knew it wasn't Rangeman because this vehicle wasn't black. She decided to see if she was being followed or just being paranoid. Pulling into the mall parking lot, she parked and waited. The blue truck pulled into the parking lot and parked two rows behind her.

Deciding she wasn't going to put up with being stalked, she marched over to the blue truck. As she got closer, she noticed who was sitting in the driver seat. The window rolled down as she approached.

"I told Tank to call off the detail. I don't need or want you guys following me everywhere I go. I no longer work at Rangeman, I'm no longer involved with Ranger, and I don't need protection."

"Steph, please. I'm not on Rangeman time. I'm on my own time and I want to talk to you. Can we please go somewhere and do that?"

"I can't. Not right now. I just need time." She started to walk away but turned back to Junior. "You don't know of any place that is hiring right now, do you?"

"I know of a few places. What type of work are you looking for?" Junior got out of his truck and stood leaning up against it.

"Something safe. Something I won't have to carry a gun for. Something that I won't get hurt doing. I don't want an office job, but I think that is probably best." She looked at him and waited.

Junior pulled his phone out and dialed, "Hey, it's me. I'm good. No, everyone is fine. Listen, do you still have open positions at your company? Great. No, not for me; for a friend. She has a bachelor's in finance. Hang on."

"My cousin needs some help at her office. But she's not located in Trenton. Is that okay?"

Stephanie thought about it and decided that she needed to get away from Trenton for a little bit, "Where is the office and what is the job?"