553Disclaimer: Anything recognizable belongs to JE
A/N: I want to take a moment to thank you all, both reader and reviewers, for your support. I hope you have enjoyed reading this story as much as I've enjoyed writing it.
I hope I remembered to tie everything up, I really hate loose ends! Please let me know if I've forgotten something and I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the ending.
Chapter 25
Epilogue - One year later
I was stepping carefully as I made my way up the stairs of the third story walk-up. The steps were littered with trash and God knows what else, and I didn't want to risk turning an ankle or stepping on a needle. I held my Sig Sauer P226 up as I advanced up the stairs, sweeping each flight and landing as I went. I traded my .38 Special revolver in for the semi-automatic once I grew more comfortable carrying a weapon. I liked having the extra rounds in the clip and it fit better in the custom made holster I wore in the small of my back.
I had accepted Ranger's offer of a part-time job at RangeMan but I still worked part-time skip tracing for Vinnie. The biggest difference was now Lula did the low end bonds and I took the mid and high end bonds that went to Ranger back when he worked for Vinnie. The guys at RangeMan had welcomed the opportunity to help me, as Ranger had said they would. At first I was afraid they would hold back because it was me, but I soon learned I had nothing to worry about. They knew a skip wouldn't cut me any slack, so they didn't either. Turns out, with actual training, I could be pretty badass for real.
As I neared the third floor landing, I could see someone worked hard to try to keep this area cleaner than the rest. My first guess would be the woman whose door I was about to kick in. Nestor Flores was reportedly visiting his grandmother today in apartment 3C. Normally I don't like picking up a skip in front of his family, but she was the one who had called me. Flores could be unpredictable and she was afraid of him.
He was accused of beating his mother in a fit of rage during a family dinner. Luckily for her, his brothers were home and able to drag him off her before he killed her. The judge had set the bail at $100,000 but Nestor was able to talk his girlfriend into putting her house up as collateral to secure his bond. Now that Nestor had missed his court date, his soon to be ex-girlfriend, mother and grandmother all wanted to see me bring him back into the system.
As I took my place to the left of the door, I glanced over at my back-up. Cal gave me a quick nod to indicate he was ready and I knocked loudly on the door and yelled, "Bond enforcement." Without waiting for an answer, I stepped back and drove the heel of my Cat boot into the flimsy door right above the knob.
Flores shot up off the couch as we entered through the mangled door. His grandmother was just walking out of what appeared to be the kitchen and stopped in her tracks at the sight of Cal and his flaming skull tattoo.
"Nestor Flores, you are in violation of your bond. Lay face down on the floor and place your hands behind your back." It almost never works coming from me, but I'm always hopeful. Call me an optimist, but delusional might be a better word.
As usual, my optimism was misguided and, instead of surrendering quietly, Flores started advancing towards me. He was unarmed and shooting an unarmed skip creates a lot of paperwork, so I holstered my weapon and moved towards the couch. Flores wasn't a large man, but he was taller than me and had a build that exuded a sinewy strength. His paperwork indicated he had done some boxing and had even won a few titles when he was younger. I shifted my weight onto the balls of my feet and turned my body to provide a smaller target as Lester had taught me. When Flores took a swing at me I was able to duck under his fist and move in close enough to sweep his legs out from under him. As soon as he hit the floor I grabbed his arm and twisted it up behind his back, forcing his head down towards the floor.
I pulled my cuffs from my utility belt and had slapped the first bracelet on his captive arm when he tried to turn to grab me with his free hand. I pulled his arm sharply upward and he screamed as his shoulder dislocated. He collapsed forward onto the floor and I grabbed his other wrist and cuffed him.
All the while I was subduing Flores, Cal was keeping the grandmother covered. Knowing he had my back left me free to take care of Nestor. The value of reliable back-up is one of the many lessons I've learned through training with Ranger and the Merry Men in the last year.
I hauled Flores up and looked over at his grandmother. I didn't want to risk retribution for the woman if Nestor realized she had given him up so I pretended I was speaking to her for the first time.
"Ma'am, I apologize for breaking in your door. There will be a gentleman named Luis from RangeMan here later to repair it."
Cal and I each grabbed an arm and headed down the garbage strewn stairway and out to the black Expedition still parked right where we had left it. Another perk of being associated with RangeMan is that my cars rarely got stolen or blown up anymore. Stealing a RangeMan vehicle was like begging to get your ass kicked. Before a chop shop could even get the bumper off, several black clad figures were likely to be in their doorway prepared to show them the error of their ways.
I parked in the back lot of the station and Cal and I walked Flores in to the desk sergeant. As he was writing out my body receipt, Carl Costanza came over.
"How you doing, Steph? I heard you've been busy scraping the scum off the streets of Trenton." He looked pointedly at Flores as he said this.
I smiled and nodded. I was no longer the laughing stock of the Trenton PD and the betting pools were long gone. Turns out, Joe Morelli was the biggest bookmaker at the station and instigator of most of the pools.
"It helps to stay busy with Ranger gone. Plus, I get to see some of my favorite people when I bring in the skips."
That got me a smile and a quick hug before I made my way down the hall to where Cal was talking to one of the female officers from vice. I had seen him stop to talk with her on two other trips to the cop shop and I was starting to wonder if maybe love with in the air for one of my favorite Merry Men.
Cal's friend gave me a quick smile and a little finger wave to Cal as we headed out of the station. Initially, I was nervous about coming back to the station after everything went down in my apartment. The first time I brought in a skip I was afraid the blue wall of silence would greet me. But everyone at the Trenton PD had been supportive of me throughout the investigation and the trial. Joe was charged with two counts of assault, assault with a deadly weapon and first degree attempted murder. There was talk of the DA's office considering a plea bargain, but Ranger made a few phone calls and no offer was ever made. The jury convicted him of all charges and the judge seemed to take personal pleasure in throwing the book at Joe.
He was now serving 10 to 15 years in a maximum security prison. Because he was a former police officer, he was kept out of general population in a special isolation ward. Rumor had it Terry Gilman had decided to forgive him and was a regular visitor until she hooked up with his cousin Mooch. Now only his mother and Grandma Bella went to visit.
We pulled into the underground garage at Haywood and I parked in the spot marked "Babe". When I first saw it, I literally laughed out loud. Who knew Batman had a sense of humor. He offered to replace the sign but I declined his offer. I would always be his Babe, and that was just the way I wanted it.
Cal and I took the elevator up to the fifth floor. While my training at RangeMan included daily time in the gym, I would never be an exercise freak like these guys, and they had long since given up trying to get me to take the stairs up five floors. The doors opened and I thanked Cal for his help and headed to Tank's office. Ranger had been in the wind for two months. While he had made all of his check-in's and Tank assured me it would be over soon, I still liked to check with him to see if anything new had come in while I had been out.
The door to Tank's office was open, so I gave a quick rap on the doorframe before walking in. He was on the phone and held up a finger to let me know he wanted me to wait. I sat in the leather visitor's chair in front of his desk and tried to be patient. After another few minutes, he disconnected and gave me a grin.
"That was my contact in Washington. Ranger is back stateside and should be home soon. He has to go through the mission debriefing and the standard paperwork and then he can leave."
I thanked Tank for the update and left grinning like a madwoman. I made my way back to my desk but found I couldn't concentrate on even the most basic search, so I shut down my computer and headed to the gym. When I first came back to RangeMan I quickly found it inconvenient to run up to seven every time I needed to change to work out, so I had commandeered a small supply closet on the third floor and dubbed it the "RangeBabe" locker room. I had a small cubby for my workout gear and trainers, and there was a lock on the door to give me the illusion of privacy. Truth be told, any one of the guys could pick the lock faster than they could use a key, but they all knew doing so would buy them a one-way ticket to a Stan via Air Ranger.
I put on my standard workout gear of running shorts, a sports bra and tank top and loaded up my favorite playlist on my phone. Stepping onto the treadmill, I selected one of the preset courses that I knew would help me channel some of my excited energy but not leave me in an exhausted puddle by the end of my workout.
Forty-five minutes later I was done with my run and decided to call it a day. I rode the elevator up to seven and stripped off my sweaty gear as I walked through the apartment on my way to a nice hot shower. I luxuriated in heady mixture of Bulgari and unlimited hot water until I felt like a prune. I stepped out of the shower and wrapped a large bath sheet around my body and used a smaller bath towel to wrap my hair up. It was close to six and I knew Ella would be up soon with dinner, so I slipped on a pair of yoga pants and a sweatshirt. It had taken a while, but I had finally gotten used to having an Ella in my world.
When Ranger and I had first gotten together, he had been adamant about taking things slowly. He took me to nice restaurants for dinner, sometimes with dancing afterwards. He took me to the movies and bought me popcorn and movie candy. He even took me to New York City for a long weekend. We took a long walk through Central Park and strolled along 5th Avenue, where we window shopped at Gucci, Prada and Louis Vuitton. He even took me to see a Broadway show. During these dates, I learned more and more about him. He still didn't volunteer a lot, but I realized he was willing to answer my questions and he rarely used only one word to do so.
We spent the night together whenever our schedules allowed, but he never insisted we stay at his place. My closet soon housed several sets of men's black cargo pants and long sleeve t-shirts. A new bottle of Bulgari appeared in my shower when the one I had pilfered ran out. Even better, food started appearing in my refrigerator.
After we had been dating for about three months, I woke up one Sunday morning to find Ranger lying beside me watching me. I gave him a small smile and closed my eyes because it felt strange to watch him watch me.
"Morning. Why are you staring at me like that? Was I snoring or drooling?"
"No, Babe. I was just admiring the view."
That made me open my eyes and I turned my head to do the same. I still found it hard to believe this incredible man loved me and wanted to spend time with me.
"I was also wondering what your thoughts might be on updating our living arrangements to a more cohabitating status."
I stared at him for a moment while I tried to determine what my feelings were about the thought of moving in with Ranger. I waited for the sense of panic or dread that in the past had accompanied any thought of giving up my apartment, but neither one came. As a matter of fact, I really liked the idea of cohabitating with him.
"My thoughts would be, I think that sounds like a really good idea." We both grinned like idiots and moved towards each other and took our sweet time celebrating our decision.
There really wasn't much discussion on where we would live. The seventh floor made the most sense for now, so Ranger had a couple of the guys help move my things into his apartment. As much as I loved Ella, it was difficult getting used to the idea of having someone cooking and cleaning for me. I felt like a kid again, instead of an independent woman.
Eventually I had gotten used to it, and now I was sitting at the breakfast bar while she busied herself setting out my plate and putting some snacks in the fridge for later. I got off my stool and hugged her when she told me there was a fudge brownie on the sideboard and vanilla ice cream in the freezer for my dessert. With her standard order of "Call me if you need anything," Ella made her way out of the apartment, leaving me to my dinner for one.
Evenings were when I missed Ranger the most. Since he had been gone, I kept myself busy during the day with skip tracing or my work at RangeMan, but evenings were mostly spent by myself. There was the occasional dinner at my parent's house or sometimes one of the guys would come up to watch a movie. I had even gone out a couple of times with Connie and Lula for a drink but for the most part, I liked being where I felt closest the Ranger.
Tonight, I decided to lay low and watch TV. Knowing Ranger was almost back made me want to stick close to home. I took my brownie sundae into the den and flipped through channels but nothing caught my eye, so I popped a rom/com into the DVD player and settled in for a quiet evening at home. When the movie was over, I cleaned up my dessert dishes and tidied up before changing into one of Ranger's t-shirts and heading to bed.
I couldn't shake the restless feeling I had had all evening and sleep was elusive. I tossed and turned for an hour before giving up and turning on the bedside light to read for a bit. I must have fallen asleep at some point, because the next thing I knew, Ranger was sitting on the side of the bed tucking a wayward curl behind my ear. It only took me a second to clear the cobwebs out of my sleepy brain before I launched myself at him. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I pulled his mouth to mine and let him know how happy I was to have him home.
Once I had reassured myself that this wasn't a dream and that he was really home, I took a moment to really look at him. His hair was cut short and he looked like he had lost some weight. Though he looked exhausted, he didn't appear to be hurt. I cupped his face in my hands and gave him another, chaste kiss and whispered "Welcome home."
He smiled a tired smile and said, "Thanks, Babe. It's good to be home. I'm going to take a quick shower and then I'll be right back."
I thought about following him into the shower and offering to wash his back, but by the time I had formulated the thought and started sliding out of bed, he was already walking back in the bedroom wearing only a towel and the delicious scent of Bulgari. I guess he wasn't kidding when he said 'quick'.
He tossed the damp towel into the hamper and I flipped the covers back on the bed invitingly. He immediately pulled me to him as he slid into the bed. One thing that has always amazed me about sharing a bed with Ranger is how we seemed to fit together perfectly. Tonight was no exception. My head found a comfortable spot on his chest and my arm and leg draped across him. He turned ever so slightly to enfold me in his arms and I tipped my face back to kiss him. There would be plenty of passion later, but for tonight we both needed to hold each other and reassure ourselves that the two halves of our whole and been reunited.
Soon, his breathing told me he had fallen into an exhausted slumber, and I lay in the darkness listening to his heartbeat and relishing the knowledge that Ranger was home. For the umpteenth time, I thanked the heavens for finally aligning and allowing us both to get our heads out of our asses long enough to realize we belonged together. With this thought in mind, I soon followed Ranger into dreamland.
I woke up the next morning sprawled across Ranger's warm naked body and his rough, calloused hands making warm, soothing circles on my back. I smiled as I lifted my head to give him a quick kiss and was rewarded with his beautiful smile in return. His hands began to travel up and down my backside and I could feel his arousal against my abdomen. He gently rolled me onto my back, making my t-shirt and panties disappear at some point during the process. He used his hands and mouth to slowly worship my body, starting with my face and working his way down my neck to my breasts, pausing briefly to lick, nip and suckle each nipple into pebble-like hardness before continuing to make his way south. He nibbled his way down my abdomen and placed a brief kiss on my lower lips, before continuing to kiss and lick down my inner thigh. He lifted my leg onto his shoulder so he could kiss the back of my knee.
His strong hands were massaging and soothing my calves while he used his teeth to nip the skin before soothing the small bites with his tongue. When he reached my toes, he lowered that leg and pulled the other one up so he could repeat the process in reverse. By the time his mouth had returned to junction between my legs, I was begging for his mouth to give me the sweet release I was craving. His fingers met no resistance as the slowly slid into my body and his tongue lashed out at my overheated nub. Just a few flicks of his tongue was all it took to drive me over the edge, and to have me pushing myself against his mouth and fingers to prolong my pleasure. He stayed with me until I started to come back to earth and then slowly made his way back up my body, kissing and nibbling the whole way.
He positioned himself over me and, staring into my eyes, slowly, very slowly, slid into me inch by glorious inch until he was buried as deep as he could go. At that moment, it felt like we were connected body and soul. We made love slowly, enjoying being together again after the long absence.
Ranger had told Tank we were both offline and we spent the day holed up on seven. A good deal of the day was spent in bed, with the occasional trip out to the kitchen for a snack to keep up our strength. While we made love several times, we also just enjoyed being close and talking.
We had brought some fruit back into the bedroom and were sitting against the headboard nibbling on fresh strawberries when Ranger asked, "Do you remember the rehearsal for Kinsey and Amanda's wedding? Do you remember when you were walking down the aisle towards me?"
I thought back for a moment, remembering. Kinsey had been in one of Ranger's special ops groups, and had left the group around the same time as Ranger. One of their other teammates had blamed Ranger and Kinsey for breaking up the team, and had targeted not only the two men, but also the women in their lives. This included Kinsey's fiancé Amanda and, even though we weren't together at the time, me. Ranger was best man for Kinsey and Amanda's wedding, and had brought me in to help protect Amanda. My cover put me in the maid of honor role for the wedding.
During the rehearsal, as I walked down the aisle, I had a 'what if' moment as I looked toward Ranger at the altar and wondered what it would be like to be marrying him. The realization of what I was thinking had caused me to stumble and almost take out the bride's maid in front of me. I had wondered at the time if he knew what I was thinking.
I nodded and he continued, "As I watched you walking towards me, all I could think about was how much I wished you were the bride and I was the groom. And then you stumbled and I wondered if you were thinking the same kind of thoughts."
I stopped in mid-chew so I wouldn't embarrass myself by choking to death on a strawberry, or worse, spitting it out all over Batman. Once I had myself back under control, I swallowed the strawberry that I had been eating and responded, "I was, actually. You were imagining marrying me?"
"Babe, a big reason I didn't want to get involved in a relationship was because of my military obligations. I didn't want to leave someone behind if I didn't make it back. At the end of this last mission, I opted not to renew my original contract. Instead of working as a field operative, I will now be working as a trainer. Field ops are for younger men, but the knowledge and experience I've gained in my life could be the difference between life and death for some of these operatives. I can still make a difference, but I can do it in a way that allows me to offer you more than I have ever been able to before."
I was stunned. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that, if you still have that hazy long term goal of getting married and starting a family, I am now the man who is able to share those goals with you."
I smiled at his answer and leaned forward to kiss him.
And a few weeks later, on a sandy stretch of beach at sunset, I, Stephanie Plum, took Ricardo Carlos Manoso to be my lawfully wedded husband, until death do we part. It wasn't always easy, but we managed to live happily ever after, and in our own way.