Name: Kendall

Rating: NC-17

Spoilers: To be safe, I'll say all.

Disclaimer: If you recognize the characters then they belong to Janet Evanovich. I'm just having some fun and meaning no harm.

A huge thanks to Luisa for her edits and suggestions. You, my Miami Mamacita, are the best!

SOLDIER

Grabbing the photograph, I held it out so we both could see. Our eyes went from the photo to each other and I could feel my heart pounding in my ears.

Chapter Twenty-Six

"Lester, this was taken befo-"

"There's a date stamp in the corner. I can see when it was taken." His tone was stiff, angry, hurt.

"It was before," I repeated quietly. I reached out to him, but stopped with my hand in midair when he turned his back to me.

"I'd already asked you out by this point, Stephanie. This was taken the night before our first date. You already knew I was interested in you."

"Lester, I'm sorry," I pleaded, unable to hide the emotion in my voice. Tears were prickling the backs of my eyes and it was killing me to know that I was causing him pain. My words were inadequate and I knew it, but I didn't know what else to say. How could I explain it to him? I wasn't even sure I could explain it to myself.

I thought back to that night, the night Scully or someone had evidently taken a photo of me through my bedroom window. I had spent the earlier part of the evening with Ranger in his truck, staking out Scully's house, and more importantly, talking about our relationship and what it would mean if I started to date Lester. Without a doubt, having this conversation with Ranger was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I'll never forget the hint of sadness and regret I saw in his eyes when we admitted to ourselves that we didn't have a future as anything more than friends. It was the same sadness and regret that I was feeling, but, as hard as it was to accept, we knew that moving on was the right decision for both of us.

Sitting there, in the dark still of the night, we were able to come to terms with a lot of the things that had been going on between us, and we reached an understanding about where our friendship stood. I was going to try a relationship with Lester, and Ranger and I would remain friends of the hands-off variety. By the end of our shift that night, I'd felt a sense of peace about my decision to date Lester, knowing that Ranger would always be a part of my life, no matter what.

When the next crew had arrived to take over surveillance duties, Ranger had driven me home and walked me up to my apartment. I still remember what he said to me as he was leaving.

"You and Lester are two of the most important people in my life, and I want you to be happy. Lester has had one hell of a rough life and he deserves someone like you. I hope it works out."

I knew it had taken a lot for him to say that and, as I watched him turn and leave, those same bittersweet emotions I'd felt earlier in the truck resurfaced. The excitement about what lay ahead with Lester was somewhat offset by the sadness of knowing that things would never work out with Ranger. Feeling overcome with the sudden turn of events in my life, I crawled into bed and crashed. But it wasn't long before I awoke, sensing a familiar presence in my room.

I opened my eyes to find Ranger standing in my doorway. The moonlight that was filtering through my curtains cast him in a soft, white light, just enough so that I could make out his features. The expression on his face gave nothing away, but the emotion in his eyes and in his voice told me everything I needed to hear.

"I tried to walk away, but I only got as far as the parking lot."

"Ranger -"

"You're not his yet," he said, his baritone voice barely louder than a whisper. "Be with me tonight, Stephanie."

My breath caught in my chest and I was powerless to do anything but nod. At that moment, there was nothing, nothing, in the world that would have made me deny him.

"Just for tonight," I whispered as he moved closer.

"Only for tonight," he whispered back.

In an instant our bodies were entwined. Hands fisting hair, removing clothes, touching skin, trying to get as close as humanly possible. He covered me with his body, with his mouth, and when we finally joined, he made me feel love like I never had before. He was everything I'd remembered from our first night so long ago and more.

So much more.

There were added emotions this time, a deeper significance to what we were doing. We were making love with the knowledge that it was likely the last time we ever would. We savored our time together, knowing we were creating a memory that had to last a lifetime.

When we were finished, he held me in his arms and we talked. In those early morning hours, long before the sun was to come up, we reaffirmed our mutual decision to remain friends. Despite how wonderful the night had been, we knew it wasn't something we could sustain…and admitting that nearly broke my heart. The only thing that let me keep it together was the knowledge that no matter what turns my life would take, Ranger's friendship was a constant.

When it became obvious that our night together was nearing an end, after our conversations had wound down and we'd said all there was to say, Ranger stood and dressed. Though we never acknowledged it, there was an unspoken understanding that we wouldn't allow ourselves to fall asleep together, to wake up together. Even though I didn't know where things were going, I still felt as if I was beginning a new chapter of my life by going out with Lester, and I couldn't begin that new chapter by waking up in another man's arms.

"I must be the world's biggest fool," Ranger said, crossing the room and sitting on the edge of the bed, while I lay, undressed, beneath the comforter. His lips were tilted ever-so-slightly in a pensive, humorless smile, and his voice was raw with emotion. "First I sent you back to Morelli, and now I'm sending you to Lester."

My eyes closed in an effort to keep myself from crying. I took a deep breath and met his gaze. "You're not sending me to him. I'm choosing to go," I said, hoping he would take my words as I'd intended them. They weren't meant to cause pain, but to let him know that this time it was different, this time the decision was mine.

Ranger's eyes searched mine for several long beats before he spoke. "Then he's a lucky man," he said at last, tucking a curl behind my ear. He bent his head and gave me a soft, clingy kiss. "Goodbye, Babe," he whispered and then he stood and walked out the door.

I closed my mind to the memory and focused on the picture in front of me, the one that had put the anguish in Lester's voice.

I stared at the image of myself, completely nude, back arched and eyes shut. From the look on my face, it was clear that I was in the throes of passion. The face of the man beneath me wasn't visible, but his identity was obvious to both of us.

"So what you told me about only being with him the one time, was that a lie?"

I looked down at my feet, unable to stand the coldness in his eyes, and shook my head. "Not at the time."

"And since?"

Now my head snapped up. "No. Since our date, you are the only one I've been with. I swear. Lester, I don't even know how I can explain this to you."

"Explain what? How you fucked Ranger and then turned around and fucked me the very next night? Seems pretty straight-forward to me."

I flinched as his words knocked the wind from my chest. The tears that had been threatening now began to fall. "Lester, please, that's not fair."

"We should go. The guys are waiting on us."

"Lester," I implored, refusing to budge. I couldn't stand that he was so angry. Before we did anything else, I wanted to make this right.

I wish I could tell him it didn't mean anything or at least that I regret it, but that would be a lie. The truth is I don't regret it and it did mean something. It meant a lot. It had been more than just a physical act. It was an emotional act and something I'll never forget.

A memory to last a lifetime.

"Lester, I never wanted to hurt you," I pleaded with him, my voice shaky with emotion.

"Do you still have feelings for him?"

"Not in that way."

"Did you when you slept with him?"

"Lester-"

"Did you?"

"Yes," I said, unable to tell him anything but the truth. I could see his jaws clenching. His mouth was set in a firm line, proof positive of the anger and hurt he was feeling.

"You told me things were over between you two. You both told me that."

"They are," I said, hoping my sincerity was obvious. I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand in a feeble attempt to compose myself. "It might be hard to believe, Lester, but that is what that night was about. We were coming to terms with three years worth of unresolved feelings. We were ending whatever it was we had between us, giving ourselves closure so that we could get on with our lives without always wondering what might have been."

"Closure?" he humorlessly laughed. "You know, Steph, I've slept with a lot women for a lot of different reasons but closure was never one of them."

The thought of him sleeping with other women caused my heart to twist in a knot. I can't imagine how much it would hurt to actually see it in a photograph. I glanced down at the picture in my hand and choked back a sob, knowing that I was the cause of his pain.

Before I had a chance to respond, Ranger's voice echoed through the narrow passageway from the warehouse floor.

"Santos, get your ass up here. We got a job to finish."

Lester's spine stiffened and his jaw clenched once again. As pissed as he was at me, it appeared he was just as pissed at Ranger. Wordlessly, he moved towards the narrow cut-out in the wall that led back to the main warehouse, gesturing for me to go first.

"Lester, can't we talk about this?"

"Not now."

"Please, Lester. I want to make this right."

"Sorry, Steph, but you heard the man; we've got a job to finish."

I let out a frustrated sigh, "What about the picture? Scully will notice if it's gone, but I can't leave it here."

"Give it to me for now. He'll have more to worry about tomorrow than where his photo went. When we get out of here, you can have it back to do whatever you want with it."

"I'm going to destroy it," I said as I handed him the photo and watched him tuck it into his flak jacket.

"Like I said, whatever you want."

Whatever I want? Did he really think I was going to keep it?The coldness in his tone was beyond frustrating, even though I knew he had every reason to be angry. Succumbing to the fact that there was nothing I could say at that exact moment to make things better, I crawled into the cramped tunnel on my hands and knees and made my way back to the main warehouse with Lester following me, silently, from behind.

A few moments later, we were standing on the main floor of the cold, empty warehouse. The rain was pounding against the high windows that ran the length of the ceiling and the sound was echoing off the walls. It was a fitting backdrop to the reality of what had just taken place down in the bunker. Dark and dreary, that pretty much summed up the situation between Lester and me at the moment. Periodically, the sky outside would light up, thanks to the thunderstorm, but otherwise, it was pitch black out. It wasn't much better inside, a few utilitarian wall sconces were the only source of light. Various RangeMen could be seen moving about the open space, securing hidden cameras and microphones, testing their listening devices and scoping good hiding places for the next evening's events.

Ranger crossed the warehouse floor to us when we'd emerged. "I just heard from Woody. He and Ram stayed to research the connection between Scully and Al Bhatema."

"What did they find?" Lester asked, giving Ranger the same barbed tone as he'd given me.

"An offshore account in Scully's name with a recent deposit of $13.5 million."

"Were they able to determine who initiated it?"

"It came from the same bank in the Cayman's that Al Bahtema has been known to have accounts in the past. Ram is working with Baker to see if they can match any account numbers."

"Baker?" I asked.

Lester answered without sparing a look in my direction, "A contact in Homeland Security. He's on a team that is trying to track Al Bhatema's activity here in the States."

"What did you find down in the bunker?" Ranger asked. Lester let out an abrupt, almost ironic, laugh. For a moment, I thought he was going to tell him about the picture and we were going to have a knock-down, drag-out confrontation right here in the middle of the warehouse, but, to my relief, he kept focused on the job at hand. We needed to resolve this, but I didn't particularly want to do it in the middle of a large room filled with gossiping Merry Men.

Ignoring Ranger's confused look, Lester filled him in on what we'd found. "About 500 weapons, half are hand-guns, probably intended to go straight to the Slayers. Some Sig Sauer snipers, and about 50 AMs."

"AMs?" I asked.

"Anti-materiel rifles," Ranger finally answered, when Lester only managed to blow out a sigh of frustration, apparently at my ignorance of modern day warfare terminology. "AMs can penetrate armored vehicles, like tanks and other machinery. These weapons are meant to be used in a war-zone."

"Perfect for Al Bhatema," I said and Ranger nodded.

"Still, that's not $13.5 million worth," Ranger continued.

"Either he's already moved some or he's got more shipments on the way," Lester offered.

"So what's our next move with this guy?" Ranger asked, directing the question to Lester.

"We nail him to the wall tomorrow and find out."

"Good answer," Ranger said as he turned to walk away.

"Wait," Lester said to his retreating back. "I'd like to have a word with you…in private."

Ranger stopped and turned around, giving a short nod. "I'll follow you."

"Lester, wait, will you just listen to me first?"

"Let's go in here," Lester ignored me and pointed Ranger to a small room off of the main floor.

"Lester, please," I begged, but he'd already walked away.

"Stephanie, can you go and help Bobby? He's testing the cameras in the southeast corner," Ranger said and then followed Lester into the small room, shutting the door behind them.

Fat chance was I going to help Bobby right now, I thought as I inched towards the room, careful to stay to the side so that my shadow wasn't visible beneath the door. I flattened myself against the wall and leaned in slightly, pressing my ear to the door, straining to hear what was being said. Lester's angry, unrestrained voice carried well enough for me to hear.

"I found something else down in the bunker." His words were followed by a brief stretch of silence, in which I assumed he was showing the picture to Ranger. "Care to fucking explain?"

Okay, a little more angsty than normal, but I hope you enjoyed. Thanks to everyone who has been commenting - it means more than you know! I'd love to hear what you thought of this one! Hugs, Kendall