I wish I could scream THANK YOU loud enough for each and everyone of you to hear me, but I can't, so I'll have to ask each of you to shout it for me! In all the many, many years that I have been involved with various versions of Plum Fanfic, I have never, ever experienced such wonderful readers and reviewers, no matter who the author might have been, and I know a few of the good ones.

I have to thank Kevan, Linda, Dee, Ruth and Lisa… but most of all, my best friend,

May

Without her, this story would never have been posted for you to read. This chapter is for her… love you, Babe!

Hey, May? You think anyone really screamed thank you?

PAYBACK

Chapter 26

Six weeks later…

Stephanie sat on the edge of the bed, leaning over to pull her boots on. She'd been staying at Harrison's house for the last six weeks and Randy had been staying at Lillie's. Over dinner last night, Randy had told her that he was planning on staying in Miami. She wished him well. Randy's announcement had started her thinking that maybe it was time for her to head home and start trying to put her life back together, if there was a life still waiting for her in Trenton.

Skipping down the stairs, she paused one step from the bottom and smiled, thinking how pissed off those twelve simple steps had made her when she first encountered them. Maybe there was something to the twelve-step method of putting your life back together after all. As her foot stumbled on the last step she reevaluated that thought, maybe not. It was going to take more than twelve steps to solve the problems in her life. Hell, the decisions she had to make regarding Ranger alone could require twelve flights of stairs.

Bonnie was sitting at the table drinking a cup of coffee. "Morning, Bonnie," Stephanie gave the woman a quick hug. "Did you hear from Harrison?"

"Just a brief message from him and one from Lester," Bonnie giggled.

"What?" Stephanie smiled at the woman as she poured her own cup of coffee.

"Harrison said to give you a kiss, be safe and he'll be back soon. But, it seems Lester's run into a little problem," Bonnie tried to keep from laughing.

Stephanie raised an eyebrow as she took her first sip of coffee.

"It seems that Lester is dead and all of his charge cards and money are frozen." Bonnie's laughed so hard she had tears in her eyes.

Stephanie spurted coffee out of her mouth. "What?!?" She couldn't help but smile as she watched Bonnie struggle to regain her composure.

Giving up, Bonnie walked to the kitchen counter and pressed the button on the answering machine.

"Stephanie!" Lester angry voice shouted from the machine. "You tell that little motherfucker that he'd better resurrect me or he'll wish I was dead!" The sharp sound of a phone closing ended the message.

Stephanie looked wide-eyed at Bonnie. "I guess Randy hasn't forgiven Lester for interrupting his little night of passion and dragging the two of them down to RangeMan for questioning," Stephanie's voice trailed off into a peal of laughter.

The two women slowly stopped laughing and settled into a sad quietness over the kitchen table. "So, you're really leaving today?" Bonnie's voice was quiet.

Stephanie nodded her head without looking up.

"Well, in that case, I've got one piece of advice to give to you." Bonnie waited until Stephanie looked up at her. "Men don't change. You either accept them the way they are or you don't." The two looked at each other. "I didn't learn that until it was too late."

Both finished their coffee and both said what needed to be said. Stephanie rose and hugged Bonnie. "Thank you for everything. You've been wonderful." Stephanie brushed a tear from her eye as she leaned down to pick up her small travel bag. Looping it over her shoulder, she gave the woman who had become a true friend a loving embrace.

Bonnie wrapped her arm around the younger woman's waist and walked with her toward the garage door. "Take care of yourself, Stephanie."

Stephanie responded with a quick nod and a lift of her eyebrow. After one last hug, she climbed on the Harley and revved the engine.

Pulling out of Harrison's driveway, Stephanie looked in her rearview mirror. A small smile crossed her lips as she saw Ranger pulling out behind her. He had been there every morning to follow her to the beach and then back to the house. At first she'd been angry, but then she began to look forward to his company. She and Ranger had been talking every day over the past six weeks, sorting through their issues. Each day she was becoming a little more comfortable with him.

Steering the Harley in the now familiar direction to the beach, Stephanie allowed her thoughts to drift, fragments of their conversations floating in and out of her mind.

"I'm sorry."

"You lied to me."

"Please, forgive me."

"You lied to me."

"You tried to kill yourself!"

"You lied to me."

"You slept with him!"

"You lied to me."

"I'm sorry."

Stephanie put her foot down solidly on the blacktop as she slowed the bike to a halt at a stop sign. If this conversation played in her head all the way back to Trenton, it was going to be a very long trip.

She turned the bike in the direction of the ocean. She had come to value the mornings she'd spent at the shore thinking and the peacefulness that seemed to settle over her.

Stephanie's final reflections

She stared down at the rounded toes of her boots. The black leather was scuffed and worn, no longer shiny and new. Anyone looking at her boots would judge them to be much older than they were. She watched as the water ebbed up and back, lapping at their thick lugged sole. The occasional droplet of salt water caused the scuffed leather to darken and shine almost like new upon its landing.

Watching the tide, Stephanie was reminded how it too was just another one of nature's natural happenings. Time and nature changed everything. The smile that appeared across her mouth was small but firm, another one of life's changes. Before, her smile had been more open, free to friends and strangers alike. Now, she was cautious in using any facial expression.

As she lifted her face to look out over the vast expansion of azure water, her eyes darkened to match. She wasn't sure what her life would be like once she returned to Trenton or if she'd stay once she returned. Everything about Stephanie Plum had changed over the last year, even her love for Ricardo Carlos Manoso. Without being under his protective watch, she'd learned how to survive in the dark shadows of life.

She now understood why his life was so private and his manner so cautious. The one fear left inside her was the fear that Ranger might not be able to accept her walking beside him as his partner. She knew he would have accepted the old Stephanie, but she had changed in ways that even a man as dark as Ranger might find hard to accept. Any balance he might have sought from her former company had been forever compromised. No longer would she be the light to his dark or the good to his bad.

Well, if he couldn't accept the new 'Babe', then she'd move on. She was strong enough, no longer anyone's fool. Besides, Miami was warm in the winter.

The sharp squawk of a seagull drew her eyes upward to watch the bird's graceful glide as it rode an air thermal. Again, the now guarded smile appeared as she watched another example of one of nature's scavengers transformed into a thing of beauty. At least she hoped so. Raising her head higher to watch the gull's flight, the ocean breeze wrapped around her neck and waved her long loose auburn curls into the breeze. Feeling the warmth of the sun on her face, Stephanie allowed herself to close her eyes for a moment. Shutting herself off from her surroundings was something she seldom felt comfortable doing anymore, but right now at this moment, she felt safe. She knew he was watching over her. The familiar tightening in her stomach and the fluttering of her heart told her so. No matter what, she would always love him. As he said, 'mine'.

Inhaling the salt air, she braced herself for the world she would face when she turned around. Showing no concern for the degree of wetness her boots were suffering, Stephanie turned away from the ocean and walked forward, ready to face whatever life blew in her direction…

The End