Over and over and over again, people pinch and grope Stephanie as she walks through the overflowing crowd of mourners until she reaches her friends and family. They are attending Joseph Morelli's funeral service and are standing in the old Stiva Funeral Home. Stephanie is standing shoulder to shoulder at the back of the room with her Merry Men, her father, her mother, and Grandma Edna. Noticeably absent is Carlos Manoso. He is on another mission with Lester, Bobby, Tank and Ram. Their goal is to capture the man responsible for killing Morelli. Stephanie thinks they're wasting time chasing down a ghost, believing the man is in Trenton. She senses him near when her skin erupts with goosebumps.
Her guard notices the involuntary reaction and steps impossibly closer, invading her space and her senses with the mix of their colognes. Stephanie feels Hector pressing against her side. He tucks her hand into the crook of his elbow, making their closeness more comfortable. She's close enough to feel the knife he has in his pocket. They feel Helen Plum, Stephanie's mother, pushing through them to approach the casket. She will have to pass Stephanie to get to the casket.
Helen is struggling to bear the ordeal. She knows Joe risked his life to save Stephanie. It is the only reason she can accept his death. Helen steps towards the front as her mind drifts back into the memories of days gone by with so many pleasant meals with Stephanie and Joe, sitting at the table in her stylish yet dated dining room. The hopes of having a Morelli-Plum marriage union evaporated upon Joe's death, though the reality never hit her until she saw him lying dead in his coffin.
Before Joe's death, Helen would use any means available to get Stephanie to attend dinner. Mostly, Helen would listen to the Burg and invite Stephanie whenever she ran low on money or groceries. She has eyes and ears everywhere. Through the gap in the crowd, Helen spots Terry Gilman at Joe's coffin, reaching inside to touch the man. Helen brushes between Vince and Stephanie, who grabs her arm with her free hand. "Mom, leave her," Stephanie warns. She catches Terry's eye and nods, confirming that Helen is under control and can't interfere.
Terry runs her fingers through Joe's hair. It feels silkier than usual. She misses his woodsy, masculine scent. In its place is the familiar stench of formaldehyde, the embalming fluid. Terry wonders why Angie Morelli went against Joe's wishes for cremation. Lying in an open coffin for everyone in Trenton to view was a spectacle Joe didn't want. Joe especially didn't need Edna Mazur and her friends to grope his dead body to measure the size of his package.
Her hand moves without thinking. Terry strokes Joe's chest, feeling the staples from the autopsy. She allows the tears to fall. "I'm so sorry, Joe. You didn't deserve this," she whispers as she cries. Terry senses someone approaching. She knows it isn't Stephanie or her family. The overpowering scent of White Rose indicates the woman is Angie Morelli, who wears too much perfume. Terry thinks Angie blames her for Joe's death. If Terry could turn back time, she would.
When Angie arrives, Terry offers her condolences and leaves. She refuses to hug Bella, who is giving her the evil eye and muttering curses under her breath. Terry assumes Bella is cursing her ability to have children. It doesn't matter; she can't procreate. During college, Terry had an emergency hysterectomy. The fibroids grew so much that the doctor swore Terry was pregnant. She was heartbroken to learn she couldn't have Joe's children. They hatched a plan where Joe was supposed to marry Stephanie, have a child - preferably a boy, divorce Stephanie, gain custody of the child, and Terry and Joe would move to another city to raise their son.
Terry Gilman thinks Joe's death is a sign explicitly meant for her, a formal warning in addition to the message from a man who claims he will take away everything she loves, if she doesn't do as he orders. Terry continues her refusal to comply. What else is she supposed to do? Her uncle Vito never bows down and tolerates the bribe. The mob makes other people pay for protection, not vice versa. They have reliable bodyguards for that job.
Feeling as though someone is watching her, Terry turns. She gasps when she sees him, the man responsible for Joe's death, staring at her. His eyes are pools of black, set slightly wider in his average face. Terry can describe him to the police, but doing so would put other women, herself included, in danger. She can't afford to have more blood on her hands.
The man is big and robust at six foot four, two hundred thirty pounds and his muscular body shows he can overtake her instantly. She sits on the closest chair and ponders methodically. Could she point out the man to Eddie Gazarra without his notice? Terry's eyes flick to the corner where the security cameras record everything. Is the man aware his actions are on a computer hidden in the offices? The police suspect the murderer may be among the mourners. However, picking him out of the crowd will be challenging as so many people are squeezing into the largest viewing room. It's never this busy during a viewing. Terry realizes the man is only there because the funeral home is busy, and he's using it as a countermeasure to avoid detection. There aren't enough police officers to effectively surveil the room.
She studies the murderer, keeping him in sight and notices he's avoiding the cameras by turning or lowering his head. Terry realizes the man can pass as a Rangeman employee. His muscular structure is consistent with the build of the men standing in the back with Stephanie, the woman who stole Joe from her. Why didn't he go after Stephanie? With a sigh, Terry remembers Joe gave his life to save his precious Cupcake.
Movement at the front of the visitation room draws Terry's attention from the man slipping out of the room while the mourners are looking at Joe's coffin. Everyone moves to the side, squishing impossibly closer into the non-existent space as a group of men move the coffin. It feels strange and out of sequence. She sees Joe's colleagues walk to the exit, where they can watch the men leaving the building, hoping to see the murderer.
Terry's eyes focus on Joe's coffin as the pallbearers, Anthony, Vinnie Plum, Mooch, Gazarra, Big Dog and Carl Costanza, carry it past her. Countless Morelli relatives are solemn as they march down the aisle towards the exit, following behind the casket, outside the funeral home to the awaiting hearse beyond the doors. Terry wonders why Vinnie Plum was helping. Where are Angie Morelli's other relatives? Terry's heart aches for losing the love of her life. She has to get the thought out of her mind where Joe spends his life by her side as she takes the reins to run her uncle Vito's business.
Why didn't Terry heed the warnings? In her gut, she knew listening would keep everyone safe. Terry thought she was better than him; that she could use her connections to kill the man before he went after Joe, while praying the man would kill Stephanie instead. Terry's lover paid the price of her ignorance and ineptitude.
By the time Terry leaves the funeral home, she is a chief topic of conversation among the mourners. The Burg women finds an excuse to walk past Terry and glare at her while telling her she should've left Joe alone. They criticize Terry, telling her she's to blame for Joe's death and that Terry should have left town to keep Morelli safe. Hoping to involve Joe in her mob ways put him in the direct line of fire. The words hurt, but Terry knows it doesn't matter. Nothing they can say is worse than the things she says to herself.
What else can she do? She thought the man was playing a prank. Terry honestly believed he was one of the Rangeman thugs hired to try to teach her a lesson to scare her away so Stephanie could be with Joe Morelli.
Her need to escape the Burg bitches' ridicule has Terry standing. She walks to the exit. Terry sighs, resting her hip against the opening of the door. Leaning slightly forward, Terry peeks around the door leading outside, hoping she can escape without notice. Helen grabs her arm. The cold, firm grip startles Terry. "You should have left Joe alone!" Helen shouts. Terry feels Helen's fury and tries to keep Helen from seeing the fear in her eyes. "You had no business stealing him away from Stephanie! Look what you did. It's all your fault Joe Morelli is dead." Helen's face contorts with fury. Her eyes were red from crying, yet surprisingly frightening.
Taking a step back while trying to shake off Helen's cold, restrictive grasp, Terry claims, "It isn't my fault. I didn't know it was…"
Helen cut off her lame excuses, "You are dead to me. You and your family are no longer at the top of the Burg; nobody will ever respect your family again. Watch your back. You may find the hilt of a knife protruding from it or your chest."
Frank wants to stop his wife's actions, but refuses to leave Stephanie's side despite the Rangeman employees protecting her. He knows Ranger keeps Stephanie safe with men hidden in the streets to watch her from a distance, but Frank feels the imminent threat is here. Helen is on the rampage. Frank sees Helen following Terry as she attempts to disappear without notice. He watches Stephanie shiver as Terry walks past her, forcing Vince to move away. Frank moves closer to his daughter.
Terry wipes the tear dripping from her eye. She yanks her arm free of Helen and turns to run. Helen follows Terry outside as she continues to threaten and warn her against harming Stephanie.
Something about Terry is giving Stephanie the chills. Whatever is wrong with mob Barbie perplexes Stephanie. She furrows her brows, trying to focus on the image intruding on her senses. Inside her mind, Stephanie pictures a man taking hold of Terry, strangling her, squeezing his hands around her throat until her face slowly turns purple as her eyes bulge from their sockets. Stephanie shakes the thought and intrusive imagery from her head and wonders, "Where did that come from?"
Still shivering from the goosebumps and gruesome thoughts, Stephanie suddenly remembers seeing the man in her daydream here, inside this room where friends, family and coworkers are paying their last respects to Joseph Anthony Morelli. Another memory intrudes her thoughts, and she realizes it's the same man responsible for murdering Joe. She remembers seeing him slip from Joe's house after picking up her belongings.
Stephanie searches the crowd of mourners for the man. Where did he go? She knows Ranger, and the guys were searching, chasing after him, hoping to prevent him from killing more people: those whom Terry knows and whomever the man perceives as a conduit to get to Terry. Ranger didn't realize the man was at Morelli's funeral in Trenton, New Jersey. Unwilling to draw attention to herself, Stephanie promises to contact Ranger when she gets home.
She feels as if her life is on the line, Ranger will do anything to protect her: his Babe, his wife. Stephanie touches the back of her neck, attempting to rub away the sensation of someone watching her. Who is making her react? Is it really Terry causing this feeling? Stephanie's spidey sense guides her to believe Terry is responsible for bringing this threat to Trenton. That thought makes her question his original reason for setting his sights on Terry. Where did he come from?
There are too many questions and not enough answers, and Stephanie touches her dad's arm, silently asking him to stay with her. He nods and taps her hand resting on his arm. Frank will keep her close until it's safe to leave. Stephanie needs her father's expertise as a badass ex-special operative in the Rangers. He understands how Stephanie's mind works and will help her sort through whatever is troubling her about the situation.
Frank suspects Stephanie needs the security only Ranger and her Merry Men can provide. With Ranger on the streets, though everyone believes he's out of town, he wants Stephanie to stay at Rangeman for protection from everyone, including the scofflaws of Trenton. Ranger doesn't want her to continue working as a bounty hunter while the murderer watches from the shadows. Stephanie understands he's only trying to protect her and respects that he gave her a choice, one they could both live with.
Ranger hopes to hide in the shadows to coax the murderer into the open. Wherever the man is hiding remains a mystery. Stephanie is a magnet for trouble, and he constantly worries that she will inevitably wind up on the man's radar. That's if she isn't already there.