Unforgettable Love

by ladylibra73

AU- Carlos meets Stephanie days before Basic Training and they fall hard for each other, but then he goes missing for years. Stephanie tries to move on, but has never forgotten him. What will bring them back together?

Unforgettable Love

Au- Carlos meets Stephanie days before Basic Training and they fall hard for each other, but then he goes missing for years. Stephanie tries to move on, but has never forgotton him. What will bring them back together?

A/N: Thanks again to Phillygirl27 for editing another exciting story. I'm grateful again that she helped me out again.

Disclaimer: Not my characters, just borrowing.

Chapter 1

Nineteen year old Stephanie Plum quickly ran into Pieduck's Pizza in Miami, Florida. The restaurant opened at 11 and it was now 11:30. There were a couple customers already waiting. She quickly went into the changing room and came out. She took each customer's order and took them to the kitchen. She joined her friend, Mary Lou at the counter.

"You're late."

"Another late night chat with Dickie."

"Is it over for good?"

"It is."

"You know what? You need to meet someone new. The next guy that comes in here I'm going to set up a date with you."

"Please, no thank you."

A few minutes later, Steph felt a tingle on the back of her neck as the chimes on the door jingled. She turned to see who came in, as her hand rubbed her neck Steph couldn't stop staring at the Adonis standing there, also rubbing her neck. He wore black shorts and black tank top. He was tall. with mocha latte skin, his arms and legs all muscle. His black hair was long a little past the shoulders. He had a gorgeous face, full lips, straight nose. his eyes found hers immediately as they both slowly removed their hands from their necks. He walked straight up to Steph and sat down on the stool directly in front of her.

"Stephanie." said Mary Lou.

"What? Oh, what would you like?" Steph asked as she noticed his captivating brown eyes.

"Water please."

"Coming right up."

Steph quickly got the water. She came back with the water so fast almost spilled it as she placed it on the counter for him. The man steadiedthe glass by placing his hands over hers and he experienced a jolt of electricity shooting up his arms. She felt it, too, and she gasped as her eyes shot up to his, freezing her in place.

"What would you like to order?" Steph finally asked after she licked her lips to relieve the Saraha Desert that she suddenly found in her mouth.

"Power Salad," said the man, his eyes darkening swiftly, as he released her hands. He battled with himself as he wanted nothing more than to volunteer his tongue to help moisten the lips pf the most fascinating creature he'd ever blue-eyed beauty who was staring deeply into his eyes had the most natural, flawless, glowing pale skin and sexy, curly brown hair that begged him to release it from her ponytail so he could run his fingers through it.

"Anything else?" Dios! How the hell am I supposed to answer that?

"No, that will be all."

"Great. I will get that order in," Steph said with a smile.

"Well, I guess my prayers were answered. I told you when the next guy came in I would set you up."

"Don't you dare. I had a hard enough time with the water and writing down his order. This guy is a God!"

"Ask him out."

"I can't do that. He probably already has a girlfriend and why would you think he want to go out with me? He looks like he goes for the skinny, blonde and voluptuous women. I'm nothing like that."

"Looks aren't everything. And don't sell yourself short. You have beauty inside as well as on the outside." Steph rolled her eyes.

"Order up," said the cook.

Steph took the salad and placed it front of him. She quickly removed her hands from the bowl, gulped and stepped back a half-step. Her hands were trembling on the edge of the counter and her eyes snapped back to hold his gaze. She doesn't fear me, but she feels the same inexorable force drawing us to each other. I need to help calm her, as much as I need to touch her again.

"Thank you," said the handsome stranger as he covered one of her hands with one of his. Again a jolt of electricity starled them both.

"Um...can I get you anything else?" she asks as his other hand joins the one touching her hand, capturing and holding it gently between both of his. Once again, her eyes jumped to look at her hand and back up to his measuring brown eyes.

"No, I'm good, but may I ask you a question?" asked this gorgeous man whose fingers were caressing the back of her hand.

"Mmmm...sure."

"I was wondering if you would like to go out tomorrow night."

"What?"Steph's brain was fighting through the enthralling sensations going through her hand, trying to make sense of what he just asked.

"I know it sounds crazy since and we only just met, but I feel a connection here."

"I don't know." Steph replied as she tried to get a grip on her brain cells.

"Think about it. I'm leaving for the Army in two days and I want to get to know you."

"I have to ask my boss first." she evaded, gently pulling her hand free so that she could think clearly.

"The boss says it's ok. I'm Mary Lou," she said extending her hand.

"Carlos Manoso," he said shaking her hand. Mary Lou elbowed Steph

"Stephanie Plum."

"Is tomorrow night at seven ok? I'd like to take you to a really nice restaurant I know."

"Yes, that's fine."

"Great," Carlos said smiling, releasing his breath which he had been unknowingly holding. Gracias a Dios! Now I know I'll see her again tomorrow.

Twenty minutes later, Steph slid the bill and a second piece of paper containing her address and phone number. Carlos beamed, paid the bill and gave Steph a good tip.

"See you tomorrow night, Babe," said Carlos smiling and leaving.

Both women watched him walk out the door, admiring what they saw.

"God answered my prayers, Steph You have a date with your Adonis."

"Who will be leaving Miami in a couple of day. How do you start a relationship with someone who will be gone for years?"

"It's not like you're getting married. He wants to meet new people and needs something to do. Give him a chance."

"Mare, did you feel anything like an electrical zap when you shook hands with Carlos?" Stephanie asked, really wanting to put this meeting into perspective.

"No. Why?"

"Strange. I felt a zing every time we touched. And I know hefrlt it, too."

"Oh. Wow! That's amazing. Maybe this was meant to be."

Steph was ready by 6:30. She sat down on the couch and looked through a magazine. She chose to wear a maroon Aston one shoulder Sheath dress. She left her curly hair down, giving her a sexy tousled look. A short time later, Steph felt her neck tingle just before the doorbell rang. She was rubbing the back of her neck when she opened the door. She couldn't believe her eyes. She saw the most gorgeous man she had ever laid eyes on. He was even more handsome than when she met him at work yesterday. He wore a navy blue Armani two-piece suit. With his mocha latte skin and his dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail, he looked like he just stepped out of a GQ magazine. And he was rubbing the back of his neck just like she was. Their eyes met and locked on each other, as Carlos reached out his hand and Stephanie placed her small one in it.

"Stephanie, you look stunning." He bent slightly to kiss the back of her hand, creating an eve more powerful zing. He looked up at her exquisite face from his position just over her hand and smiled a 200-watt grin.

"Thank you. So do you, Carlos," she said smiling back.

"You are even more beautiful than yesterday. How is that possible?"

"Thanks," Steph murmured, feeling herself blush. Ah, dios! How precious is that?

"You're welcome. Are you ready to go?" she nodded as she grabbed her purse, closed the door and locked it. They walked out of the parking lot, holding hands. He didn't want to let her go. Carlos opened his car door, handing her in. He closed her door, and sprinted around to his side.

"So where are we going?" Steph asked as he started the car.

"La Rosa Restaurant. Have you ever had Cuban cuisine?"

"No I haven't."

They arrived at exactly seven. Carlos parked right in front of the door. As Stephanie walked to the restaurant, she felt a tingle go down her spine when he put his hand on the small of her back. They walked up to the Host and were taken to their table.

"Wow, fast service."

"I made reservations."

When the waiter arrived, Carlos chose Cabernet Sauvignon, Sterling. A few minutes later, they ordered their food and they both chose Ropa Vieja.

"So, you're leaving for the Army.'

"Yeah, doesn't give me much time to get to know you. I've been so busy with all the enlistment tests and evaluations. I just hadn't time to do anything else."

"So where are you going on Friday?"

"To Fort Benning, Georgia, to undergo Basic Training for 10 weeks before I find out where my first deployment or location of more advanced training will be."

"You know, this is going sound shallow but you are so handsome, it seems like you would data a girl that is a supermodel, gorgeous, skinny, with big boobs."

"Yeah, Carlos chuckled. I dated someone like that. Totally turned me off. She was artificial outsdie as well as her personality. You're naturally beautiful, your eyes are a mesmerizing blue, you're not too skinny and you don't have to wear a ton of make up to be gorgeous."

They talked more until their food arrived. Steph took the first taste and moaned. Carlos was staring at her, with his fork halfway to his mouth.

"I'm sorry. The food tastes so good. Sorry if it made you feel uncomfortable."

"No worries."

Twenty minutes later, she finished her dinner and ordered dessert. She chose Rice Pudding, Carlos didn't order dessert. By the time she was done with her dessert, she was stuffed and Carlos' pants were feeling way too tight. He paid the bill and drove her home. He walked in with her when Steph invited him in.

"Do you live here alone?"

"No, my roommate Anna is in Fort Lauderdale with her boyfriend. What time do you leave Friday?"

"Six in the evening."

"Would you like a water?" Steph asked going to the fridge.

"No thank you."

Steph opened the bottle and drank.

"I've been living here since I turned nineteen. I start my sophomore year in college in the fall."

"What are you majoring in?"

"Business."

When Carlos walked closer to her, she moved to the couch.

"Would you like to watch a movie?" she asked as she sat down.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You seem nervous. Is everything ok?"

"Everything is fine."

"Good," he said sitting beside her. "I had a good time tonight. I was hoping we can stay in touch," Carlos said taking her hand in his.

"I had a good time also," she said looking at him. She couldn't resist so she kissed him. This time the zing went from her lips down to a much lower part of her anatomy. When they came up for air, they were breathing heavy and watching each other in bewilderment.

"I shouldn't be doing this, we hardly know each other," said Steph.

"But it feels like I have known you forever." Carlos completed her thought.

"Exactly."

They continued to kiss when she took his hand and led him to the bedroom. She took off his tie and unbuttoned and removed his blazer and then his shirt. She noticed his chest was very muscular. Steph moaned as she ran her hands all over it. She kissed him deeply as he unzipped her dress and it fell to the floor. He unzipped his pants and they, too, fell to the floor. Carlos looked at her, taking in her strapless black lace bra and thing panty set.

"You are so beautiful, Babe." He made quick work of her delicate undies, revealing all of her to his gaze. "Just exquisite and perfectly made for me." Carlos tasted her breasts and nipped, then tongued her nipples. She had closed her eyes and her head dropped back as she moaned out how good that felt.

He turned and lifted the covers as he got in bed first. She joined him and they kissed deeply. His hand slid down to her clit, circling, aqueezing and flicking it as he felt how wet she had become. Within moments she shouted, "Oh, God, Carlos! as she came for him. He got on top of her and eased himself inside her and slowly started to move. He was amazed how tightly she fit and how right this felt. He kissed her neck as she caressed his neck down to his muscled back. She felt so warm and wet. They both made soft moans as they were feeling the pressure tighten within. She rolled him on his back and sat up on him without breaking contact. He noticed her breasts were firm. warm and smooth and just the perfect size for his hands. He caressed them and her nipples once again were hard and so sensitive to his touch. She bent down and kissed him deeply as she caressed his hair as he stroked her back and ass. She sat back up and stroked his smooth, muscled chest. She slowly rode him and softly moaned.

"You feel so good," said Steph looking at him.

"So do you, Babe." Ah, Dios, she is so responsive to my touch.

They both felt the pressure getting stronger and they shouted each other names. as they plunged over the top together. She collapsed on top of him, getting her breathing under control before lifting herself up and off of his impressive manhood and then laying beside him. She put her hand on his chest and he covered it with his.

"Mmm, that was wonderful," Steph whispered.

"Yeah it was," Carlos agreed, looking at her and she already fell asleep.

Chapter 2

The next morning, Steph woke up. Thoughts of last night came back to her. Steph saw that his arm as around her. She slowly removed it and got out of bed. She took and shower and quickly got dressed. She walked out of the bathroom as she noticed he was still asleep. She quietly left the room and out of the apartment. She got to the restaurant before eleven. Mary Lou arrived two minutes later as Steph was putting on her name tag.

"How was your date last night?"

"It was fine."

"Fine?"

"Where did you go?"

"La Rosa restaurant."

"Oh, how nice. Where did you go afterwards?"

Steph turned around and gave her a look.

"Hey, you're glowing. You got some last night. How was it?"

"We need to get to work."

"I want details later."

Carlos woke up to an empty bed. He sat up and looked around.

"Steph?"

He got up and looked in the bathroom. He went to the living room. He looked at the time and noticed it was 11:30. She was at work. He called her and left her a voicemail message.

Steph checked her phone messages at three. Carlos left her a voicemail. She deleted the message and turned off her phone. She left the restaurant at 11pm. When she walked in her apartment, she found Carlos sitting on the couch.

"How did you get in?"

"I never left. How come you didn't return my phone call? I didn't come by the restaurant because I knew you would be busy. What's going on?"

"Last night was great, but you're leaving tomorrow."

"So? I will be in training for ten weeks and then I will be back for a short leave. I will write to you either email or snail mail and keep you up to date on what's going on."

"No. I don't think it will work out. Going to training, come back here and then leave again. I just can't do that kind of a relationship."

"Don't do this. We made a connection last night. I felt it, didn't you?" Carlos asked, grabbing her hand. "Steph, I love you."

She looked at him.

"I don't. You better go and it's late."

"I really thought we had something special. I guess I was wrong. Goodbye Babe." Carlos said leaving.

Steph sat down and started to cry._

The next day, there were a lot of customers to keep Steph busy and not think of Carlos. Mary Lou waited 'til her break to talk to her. At two, Mary Lou found Steph sitting at a picnic table, eating her lunch.

"I heard what happened. Carlos has been in touch with Lenny and I. He really loves you Steph."

"I don't want to be in a relationship like that. Come back for a few days and then leave again? Not for me."

"You didn't want to at least give him a chance?"

"I have to go back to work," Steph said getting up quickly.

At 5:30, Mary Lou walked up to Steph who was putting more salt in the shakers.

"I'm going to go say goodbye to Carlos. Are you sure you don't want to come?"

"I'm sure."

"Ok. I'll see you tomorrow."

Friends and family gathered around Carlos to say their farewells.

"She didn't want to come," said Mary Lou.

"That's ok. I didn't think she would."

"Take care of yourself," she said hugging him.

He waved to everyone and got on the plane and found his assigned and sat beside the window. Then a big, bald, black guy sat in the aisle seat.

"No girlfriend or wife to see you off?"

"No neither. I thought this girl would, but she didn't. A friend of mine set us up and we hit it off and we connected, but I guess I was wrong."

"Ah, she didn't want to be in this kind of relationship. Leave, come back and then leave again. I can understand that. The name is Pierre," he said holding out his hand.

"Carlos Manoso," he said, shaking Pierre's hand. Just then, Carlos heard a commotion and felt a tingle on the back of his neck. He heard a woman's voice then saw Steph walking down the aisle. Carlos got up and met her.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I love you," she said kissing him as she put her arms around his shoulders. He put his arms around her and he deepened the kiss. He pushed back a little, placing his forehead on hers.

"I love you."

Everyone clapped. Carlos smiled and looked at everyone.

"We created quite a show for our audience."

"Excuse me, I hate to break up this reunion or whatever, but we have to go," said the pilot.

Steph turned to Carlos.

"I have to go. You will wait for me right?" asked Carlos.

"Yes I will," said Steph, hugging him. "I love you."

"I love you, too" said Carlos.

They kissed one last time and Steph walked out of the plane. Carlos walked back to his seat looked out the window as the plane started to move. He saw Stephanie standing beside Mary Lou. He waved and put his hand to the window. She waved back.

"So, who was that?"

"That was Stephanie, my girlfriend. I guess she had a change of heart." Carlos smiled as the event sunk in. He could hardly believe it had really happened. Gracias a Dios!

The plane turned and faced the runway.

"What made you change your mind?" Mary Lou asked her friend.

"I do love him," Steph said hugging her.

The plane started to move and picked up speed down the runway. Steph started to cry as the plane went up in the air. The plane circled around and he saw the terminal. He really hoped Steph would wait for him.

Two months later, Steph was studying in her room when she heard a knock at the front door. Steph's roommate Anna, answered the door.

"Hey Steph, there is someone here to see you."

"Who?"

"I don't know, the person won't say."

"Well, tell that person I'm busy studying."

"Too busy studying to see me?"

Stephanie looked up to see Carlos standing at her door. She smiled and pushed her books aside and ran over to him. She hugged him tightly and kissed.

"When did you get here?"

"An hour ago. I email Lenny and Mary Lou regularly so I asked Lenny to pick me up at the airport. We chatted and I asked him to drop me off here to surprise you."

"It's a wonderful surprise. So, how long are you here for?"

"Three days."

"That's not long enough."

"Long enough to hold you," said Carlos kissing her. "What are you studying?"

"Statistics. Not easy."

"Let's have a look."

Instead of studying, they got distracted and made love. They stayed in Steph's apartment for those three days. Carlos made breakfast, lunch and dinner. He did help Steph with her studies. She actually got a handle on Statistics for the first time. By the third day, Steph laid in bed crying. Carlos woke up and saw Steph crying. He pulled her into his arms.

"I'll write you everyday to let you know what I'm doing. Nothing bad will happen to me. I'm going to give you something that we can both wear," Carlos said reaching for something hanging on the table lamp.

Steph sat up.

"I'm giving you one of my Army dogs tags. That way we'll be close to each other," Carlos said, tying the string around her neck. They kissed and made love. A few hours later, Steph went with Lenny and Mary Lou to drop off Carlos. Steph couldn't let go of Carlos. Mary Lou comforted Steph as the plane took off into the sky. Carlos kept his word about writing to Steph everyday. She wrote back. Then six months later, the letters stopped coming. She watched the news everyday to see if anything bad was happening overseas. Then one day, Steph was at the counter cleaning when Mary Lou's husband entered the restaurant. Mary Lou walked over to him and they spoke quietly. Mary Lou looked at Steph and took something out of Lenny's hands. Steph didn't like what she was seeing. Mary Lou handed Steph an envelope.

"What's this?" Steph asked, looking at the envelope.

Steph opened the envelope and saw that it was Carlos' other dog tag.

"He was in Colombia and he was either taken prisoner or there was a blast and somehow his dog tag and chain got thrown off his neck. That's what the Colonel said."

Tears were streaming down Steph's cheeks. Mary Lou went over to hug Steph, but Steph stepped away.

"He can't be dead. I'd feel it if he were dead. Dammit, he's alive somewhere! They have to find him!"

"I'm sure they will search for him. It's going to take time," said Mary Lou.

"They need to find him and bring him home to me," said Steph putting the other tag on the string. "I'm not giving up hope," said Steph walking to the back room.

Six months later, there was still no word about Carlos. The Colonel believed that he died in the explosion or was taken away by soldiers. The Colonials men looked everywhere for Carlos, but found nothing. Steph screamed at the Colonel, begging him to find Carlos, but she was told that was not going to be easy as he was in dangerous territory. He would have to plan an attack in Colombia, but even then they wouldn't really know if Carlos had been captured or not. Steph went home and cried. Everyday Steph would watch the door to see if Carlos would walk in. Still, after a year and a half, no Carlos.

One night, before going to bed, Steph looked at the tags and kissed them again, as she had done every night since he went missing.

"May you rest in peace Carlos, I'll never forget you and I'll always love you," Steph whispered, as her tears ran down her face once again. With a heavy sigh, she took off the necklace and put it in the drawer of her nightstand. Steph got in bed and turned off the light.

That night, a knock woke Stephanie up. It was after midnight. She turned on the light and opened the door. Dickie.

"I'm so sorry to wake you up this late, but I wanted to talk to you and it couldn't wait till morning. I know I have been an ass to you and I want to apologize for the things I've done. I want to know if we can start over. I want to be a better boyfriend for you. I want to become Governor someday and I would like you by my side. Of course, I have a lot of work ahead of me to build a great reputation for serving the people of Florida. I figure it'll take about five more years but you won't have to work at that pizza place anymore. You can still finish college, I won't stop you there."

"I have to think about it."

"Ok, I don't want to wait too long."

For four days, Steph thought about what Dickie said. She made her decision and would give him an answer tomorrow. She talked to Mary Lou about it and she told Steph that it was her decision and not anyone else's. Mary Lou hoped Steph knew what she was doing. The next night, Dickie showed up at the pizza shop and walked Steph home.

"Dickie, I have made a decision."

"Ok."

"I decided I will help you fulfill your goal of becoming Governor of Florida."

"Oh Stephanie! You don't know how happy I am! We'll live with my father until we get married. Believe me, I will not disappoint you."

Dickie was too excited and too focused on himself, chattering about his own goals, to notice the tears that were coursing down down his future wife's face. Steph knew she'd never love another man. Carlos will always hold my heart, she thought, as she walked along in the dark next to the man she had just promised to help get elected Governor of Florida.

Ten years later

Chapter 3

Stephanie Orr was just getting ready for bed when her husband, Dickie Orr, walked in the bedroom.

"Why aren't you wearing the blue nightgown?"

"I wore that one last night. I thought I would wear this one tonight," Steph said, showing off her red Flora Bellflower Babydoll with panties.

"I hate it. It makes you look like a hooker. Change into the blue nightgown," said Dickie, taking off his tie and unbuttoning his shirt.

"It's in the wash. I dropped some ice cream on it."

"That's your fault then. Wear the white nightgown."

Steph sighed and pulled it from the drawer to change into the white nightgown.

"You were with Joyce tonight weren't you."

"Yeah I was. She's a better lay than you are. Why are you wearing underwear?"

"It's that time of the month. I have to wear underwear."

"Too bad, take them off."

She just stood there.

"Take them off now!"Dickie's face was red, his vein protuding from his was well on his way to a complete Freak Streak, Steph called them. That was when he was the most violent and nasty. That was never good, but she just couldn't make herself comply with his unreasonable demand.

So Steph did nothing but stare at him. That did it. A purple rage took over his face and morphed into everyone's worst nightmare.

"If you don't take them off this instant, I'm going to take them off for you. Ok, you leave me no choice," Dickie snarled, his fist slamming into her, pushing her onto the bed and landing on her stomach.

"You're going to be punished," roared Dickie taking off his pants.

"Dickie, please don't." pleaded Steph with panic in her voice. She knew her husband was a sadistic bastard who used any excuse to rape her.

"You don't do as your told, you get punished!"

Before he could rip off her panties and climb on top of her, Steph heard glass breaking at the same instant that Dickie's body recoiled away from her, hit the wall and fell to the floor. Steph jumped up to see what happened. Dickie was laying on the floor, with a hole in his forehead, his sightless eyes staring at the ceiling. He had been shot. Steph looked across the room and saw the hole in the windowpane. Shit! I could be next! she thought as she grabbed the phone off the nightstand, while sweeping her arm across the lamp to kill the light. As the lamp crashed to the floor and the bedroom plunged into darkness, she dove down next to the bed and quickly dialed 911. The police and the forensics team arrived ten minutes later. Steph crawled in the dark out of the bedroom dashing downstairs to let them in, grabbing her robe on the way.

After she had shown the police to the master bedroom, she descended to the living room to get out of their way. She gaver her statement about the events of the night to one of the officers. As the City Coroner took Dickie's body away to be autopsied,Stephcalled her husband's Press Secretary and the Lt. Governor to alert them. She told them a mentally redacted version of what had happened and since they were in Tallahassee while she and Dickie had come to his old family home in Miami for some R & R over the weekend, they told her that they would handle everything official up in the state capital. She thanked them and told them to call her if they had any more questions. Steph hung up the phone and turned, facing the officer who had taken her statement, who had just returned to he living room.

"Mrs. Orr, I do have a few questions. Did your husband have any enemies?"

"He was the Governor of Florida, of course he has enemies."

"Anyone in particular he had problems with?"

"No, not that I know of. You should probably ask his staff."

"Ok, I'll do that. Mrs. Orr, I hate to ask you, but do you think your husband was having an affair and some woman killed him because he wanted to end it with her?"

"I know all about his affairs, officer. And to answer your question: No, I really don't think he was having an affair with a sniper!"

"Proably not, ma'am, but pro hit men can be hired. May I ask why didn't you divorce him if you knew about the affairs?"

"It would ruin his career if I did. Plus, if I did, I would lose everything."

"Can you explain what you mean by 'If I did, I would lose everything?"

"It's no secret that my husband inherited all of his family's wealth when his father ided a few years ago. His father never trusted me, or anyone for that matter, so he made me sign a prenup before Dickie and I married. In short, if I ever divorced him or caused him to lose his political standing or personal reputation, I would be cut off without a cent, in spite of all the hard work I've put in to promote his career.

"Look, Mrs. Orr, it's late. We'll come back in the morning to finish processing the crime scene. Please stay out of this room until that is done, alright? Tonight, or what's left of the night, we'll have frequent patrols in the neighborhood, to try to keep you safe from this threat. Tomorrow we'll also question your staff here and talk to some of the neighbors. Will you be OK alone here or could we call someone for you?"

"No, officer. I'll be alright here and right now, I'd rather be alone."

"Yes, ma'am. Is there a guest room room you can sleep in?"

"Yes there is. Just down the hall."

Steph waited till the cops left and then headed straight for the shower in the hall bath. She felt horribly icky after everything that happened she finally felt clean, she dried herself and got settled in bed. She wondered who the gunman was. That was a professional hit. She also wondered if she was still in danger. And tomorrow, she had a funeral to plan. Since Dickie was from Miami, it makes sense to have it here. And, crap, I'll have to pack up our personal belongings from the Governor's mansion. I'll donate all of Dickie's clothes and most of hi sother possessions there. Who needs to count sheep, when I can just count tasks on my now revised To Do list? A few minutes later, totally exhausted, she fell asleep.

Carlos Manoso made it back to the house. Killing Dickie Orr was easy. He parked the Porsche in the underground garage, retrieved the case containing his sniper rifle from the trunk, and entered the elevator. He went in the control room to check things out.

"How is everything?" asked Carlos, as he took his rifle and began the meticulous, but necessary, process of cleaning it."

"Good, the cam feed from your rifle scope was perfect. And Carlos, excellent kill shot. You saved that woman from being raped by that ass," said Tank.

"All I care about was killing the Dickhead," Carlos said. He completed the cleaning procedure in silence, snapping the case closed, and headed to his bed for some much needed sleep.

He took the elevator up to the third floor. When he entered his room, he found a woman in his bed. She sat up as the covers fell as she showed her naked breasts. She had mocha latte skin, long, brown hair and was very slender. Carlos unbuckled his belt, took off his shirt and pants. He joined her and got on top of her. He eased himself inside her. She was so wet and tight. Ava was an easy lay. Just a woman to screw when he needed it. He picked up the pace as she screamed out his name. He finished and got off of her and laid on his back.

"You're so wonderful. Too bad about all the other women out there: you're all mine."

"No I'm not. We're not in a relationship. You're just something I can screw every once in a while."

"You're an asshole!" she said getting up and gathering her clothes and going to the bathroom. A few minutes later, she left the bathroom and slammed the bedroom door when she left. He turned off the lights and went to sleep.

A week later, Carlos attended The Dick's brief funeral, which was held at the graveside. He parked his Porsche on a lane near enough to the grave that he could see, but away from where the funeral procession stood at the side of his Turbo, leaning back against the door, ankles and arms crossed, silently watching through his mirrored sunglasses. There were a lot of people from Congress to the White House, and governors of other states. When the funeral was over, some people departed immediately, some stood around talking and hugging Governor Orr's wife. The crowd finally split apart and allowed the woman to step through as she walked to the limo. Carlos couldn't believe his eyes. Stephanie Plum. He recognized her as she emerged from the crowd, even behind those large sunglasses she was wearing. He tried to make sense of what he was seeing, but he knew he was right by the tingle on the back of his neck. He could see that she felt it too, as she froze and her hand came up to touch her neck. He jumped back into his Turbo before her scanning gaze found him. Carlos was glad he had an impenetrably dark tint on the windows. Stephanie Plum married to the Dick? How the hell did that bit of info not come out during The Dick's background search? He watched her shrug and lower her hand as she resumed her walk, getting into the limo. He started the Porsche and followed her, staying just out of sight. After ten minutes, the limo drove up to a secure gate that opened as it approached and the limo proceeded up the long driveway to a beach house. He watched her walk out of the car and into the house. He drove off and went back home. He parked the car in the garage and went directly to the control room. He found Tank at the computer.

"Stephanie Plum was married to the Dick. My Babe was Mrs. Orr. How did we not catch that?"

"Seriously? Wow. So that's where she's been...up in Tallahassee. We'll have to go back and re-check our findings. But when we first found out that she was marrued when you came home, you ordered us to drop further data mining. More importantly, I wondere what possessed her to marry that asshole."

"I don't know, but I'm going to see her. She is staying in a security-gated house on the beach."

"Good luck with that. There is a lot of security around her wherever she goes these days. They are still not sure if she, too, is a target."

"Who said anything about breaking in? I'm going to the front door."

"You think everything is going to be ok when she sees you? You think she's going to forgive you when you tell her you killed her husband? When are you going to tell her you're an assassin?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there. I'll see you later."

When Stephanie entered the beach house she admired the place. It was hers. This was exactly what she dreamed of. She told Dickie of the beach house they could live in after he was done being governor. He thought it was awful. He didn't want to live with sand stuck between his toes and nothing to do but watch stupid seagulls fighting over a clam. He wanted to live in the city, where the action was. Steph, on the other hand, loved the peaceful setting on the beach, away from the busy nightlife downtown.

She found this rustic, plush, Miami Beach house and watched it over the years while they were in Tallahassee. It was like it caled to her. She really wanted to own it. She 'followed' it on Zillow and Trulia. So when Zillow notified her that it finally came on the market, she flew to Miami under the pretext of doing some work for one of her state charities. Dickie allowed her to do these types of prjects because it always reflected well on him. Steph bought the house and pit it in the name of Sand Castle LLC, using money that she had earned from speaking engagements and as much household budget money as she could squirrel away without alerting Dickie. Steph wisely invested the funds and had her own secret financial and legal advisor who helped her open her LLC. Once the second term of office was done, Steph was planning on leaving The Asshole. And since he didn't know about the house or her LLC, it wouldn't be easy to find her. The house came furnished, complete with linens, towels and essentials, so she could move right in. Of course that was the plan, as of three weeks ago, when she took ownership. God! So much has changed since then. Well, I no longer have to worry about Dickie findingout about it. Until The Asshole's estate is settled. I should make sure to 'pay rent' to the LLC, so that it doesn't look like I own it. I need to talk to my advisor tomorrow to cover all the bases. And I shouldn't tell anyone else about it yet!

Steph really lived the beach house. The floors were ceramic with a spiral staircase in the middle. On the right was the kitchen/dining room. A white u shaped sectional sofa sat in front of a fireplace with a fifty-inch TV above. She opened the sliders to a patio with a pool and a great view of the ocean.

She began to think about how different her life would now be. She could do what SHE wanted to do, with no one to micromanage her choices or beat her up or rape her when she tried to stand up against him. One of the first things she wanted to do was to get back in touch with a few friends she had been forbidden to contact. Steph missed Mary Lou and she hasn't spoken to her in ten years. Steph found her address book and found Mary Lou's number. She hoped she kept the same number. She dialed and the phone was picked up on the fifth ring. There were kids yelling in the background.

"Hello?"

"Hi, is this Mary Lou?'

"Yes it is. Who is this?"

"It's Stephanie Plum," she said, happy that she could do easily revert to her maiden name. She never wanted to hear The Asshole's name attached to hers ever again.

"Stephanie! Who...my God! How are you? I haven't heard from you in a long time!"

"Yeah, it's been ten years."

"Yeah. So, how are you doing?"

"I'm great! I'm renting in a luxurious beach house in Miami. Do you know Dickie has been murdered?"

"Yes I heard. So sorry to hear that. Are you ok?"

"Actually, yeah, I am. Would you like to come visit and we can talk? I'll even give you a tour of the place."

"Sure. Lenny will be home in five minutes. So, as soon as he gets here, I'll come see you."

"Great, see you then."

Twenty minutes later. Steph answered the door and gave Mary Lou a big hug.

"It's so good to see you!" Mary Lou said smiling.

"I'm so happy to see you! You look good."

"After having three kids, I don't look it."

"Wow. Girls?"

"Three boys. 4, 7 & 9."

"They must be a handful."

"Indeed they are. So show me this place."

Mary Lou was absolutely amazed at the house. They walked to the lanai and sat down.

"So tell me. What was it like to be married to the Governor?"

"It was nice for about 6 or 7 years then things changed. It was right around the time that his father died and he inherited all of the family's properties and money. He was the last of the Orr line. They were rich and it almost seemed that all that wealth plus the power of being the governor sent him over the edge. Like there was no more brakes on his actions, no moral fiber left in him. Dickie started to get mean. If I didn't do something right, the exact way he wanted it done and when he wanted it done-he would smack me in the face later that night when we went to bed. That didn't happen every night, but usually like every other night.."

"Jeez, Steph, I'm so sorry. I never would have guessed. In all of the pictures and video clips that I've seen of you and him over the years, I certainly didn't see any bruises or swelling on your face. Why didn't you divorce him?"

"It would've ruined his career, and I promised not to do anything to harm that."

"So what! You still could've done something or told someone instead of letting it go. I hate to say this, but I'm glad he's dead. No woman should go through that. Do you know who murdered him?"

"No. The police agree that it was a sniper, a professional hitman. They found a building two doors down that had the perfect sight line for the shot. The forensics team scoured the flat roof but they came up with squat. The only thing they saw were occasional bird droppings. Not a footprint. Nothing. That's why there are guards everywhere. I still don't know if I am another target or if it was just Dickie who had the contract out on his life."

"Oh wow. Did you ever love Dickie?"

"I thought I did. Or I tried to convince myself that maybe I did. But my commitment to him was to help get him elected governor, not to love him 'til death do us part. I just made the wrong decision. I felt so lost when Carlos didn't return. I think I was living in a fog for a couple of years and I wanted the pain the to end."

"Well, it's over now and you can concentrate on you. What are you going to do?"

"I don't know. I just can't sit here with nothing to do although I will do that to relax for a while. I really love this beach house and you can't beat the location for beauty and solitude."

"Well, when you're ready, find something part timeto start. Maybe volunteer at one of the charities you feel strongly about. I know you promoted a number of very worthy causes over the years."

They talked for a few minutes more and then Mary Lou had to leave.

"It was great seeing you again," said Mary Lou hugging Steph.

"Yeah. Next time we'll do lunch, when I feel safe enough to venture out alone. I'd sure like to have the police catch whoever did this, just so I know I'm safe," said Steph as she felt that old tingle on the back of her neck again. She froze and looked out the front door, rubbing her neck.

"Yes, we should. Ok, call me," said Mary Lou walking out the door. Steph closed and locked the front door. This is crazy. That's twice today. It must be that I'm feeling would up too tightly with all the events of the past week. I need to unwind, relax a bot for once. She turned and looked out at the pool. Perfect! She ran upstairs to change into her swimsuit and put her hair up in a loose bun on top of her head. She padded barefoot downstairs, grabbed a towel, her sunglasses, suntan lotion and a bottle of ice-cold water, and strolled out to her new life. One preferably out of the limelight. Without a bullet in my head!

Chapter 4

Steph stepped into the pool. It was warm and invigorating. She rubbed her neck again as she got in. What the hell? Why do I keep feeling that tingling sensation?I haven't had it in almost 12 years...since I saw Carlos! She swam a few laps around the pool when she saw a man in black standing on the other side of the pool. She swam closer and realized who it was. She got out of the pool and put the towel around herself.

"Hi," he said with a smile. Dios! My blue-eyed Babe! Seeing her in that swimsuit makes me want to hold her and love her all night long!

"Carlos?" Black spot were beginning to invade her sight. This can't be!

"Yeah, Babe, it's me."

Steph fainted and Carlos caught her before she hit the ground. He carried her upstairs and placed her on the bed. He almost moaned at how good it felt to have her in his arms. He drew all the black out-backed drapes closed. He sat in a chair next to the window and watched her. She is still so beautiful. How I've missed her. Just being in the same room with my Babe is calming. She woke up ten minutes later. Steph opened her eyes to see that she was in her bedroom. 'How did I get in my room? she thought. She sat up and noticed a shadow by the darkened window. She jumped up and in one fluid motion, opened the drawer, pulled out a gun turned and held him at gunpoint. Carlos was impressed by her moves. But at the same time, he was smart enough to stay perfectly still. Then he slowly raised his hands to show that he meant no harm.

"No need for that, Babe. I'm not going to hurt you."

The voice sounded familiar. She reached over and turned on the light with the gun still pointed at him. Steph gasped. She couldn't believe her eyes.

"Carlos? I really was you outside the pool."

"Yes, it's me."

"How is this possible? Are you ghost or something? Am I dreaming? Have I hit my head?"

"No," he chuckled, "you're not dreaming. When you saw me outdoors, you fainted and I caught you before you hit the ground. I carried you up here and waited for you to wake up."

"So I'm not dead or anything."

"No."

"So, how are you alive when you're supposed to be dead? What happened?"

"Kinf of a long story, Babe. Do you mind putting the gun away and sitting down first?" Steph nodded and put the gun back the drawer. She sat down on the bed and motioned that he should join her, but at the end of the bed. Carlos nodded his thanks and sat down, just glad to be near her.

"When I left you after Basic Training, my scores had qualified me to go directly to Ranger Training. My first deployment was to the jungles of Colombia. There was a lot of fighting going on there, because two of the most powerful drug cartels were at war. It went on for about eight months. During one particularly bloody battle, there was a lot going on around my teammate Ava and I all the time. Finally, I had just pulled the pin, released and lobbed a grenade when a blast from another direction threw us. Luckily, it wasn't too close, because they were trying to pinpoint our location. We both sustained injuries, but not deadly ones. I woke up two minutes later, assessed the damage and managed to sneak away carrying Ava to a cave where we stayed until everything settled down. We remained in the cave for a couple of weeks while the worst of our injuries healed. We had to steal food and water the from outbuildings of the compound without being detected. That's not easy when you're wounded. We had missed our check-ins during that time, sowe knew we had also lost out on the primary and secondary pick-up points. The only choice we had was to try to get to a last ditch rendezvous point. We slept during the day and walked during the night. It was slow going as we were both healing and had to stay hidden from everyone along the way. We ended up in Caracas, Venezuela several months later. There, we contacted the Colonel about getting us back to the States.

Ava was sent back without me. I was needed immediately to head back and clean up the mess we'd had to leave behind. And I had to remain MIA so no one would suspect that I was alive. i wasn't even allowed to communicate with Tank, Lester or anyone. At least they gave me a fresh team and supplies. It ook another grueling nine months to finish the original mission. I was truly sick of living in the jungle. By the time I was extracted and arrived back in the States, I was held incommunicado for a good month for debriefing, medical treatment and physical therapy, while they restored my body and my mind. I know they wanted to re-up in the worst way, but I'd had enough and couldn't wait to see you and my friends and get Rangeman started. I was finally released and headed home.

The most important thing I wanted to do was reconnect with you. I felt so horrible that I wasn't permitted to even let you know I was still alive. I made it back to Miami and immediately asked about you. Someone told me that you were married. When I heard that, I didn't let them tell me you'd married. It didn't matter. I was crushed and I asked that no one mention you to me again. And they abided by my request.

So I was shocked when I saw you at the funeral this morning. After that I followed the limo that dropped you off here. I was very surprised it was you. So, why did you marry him?"

"I don't know. It had a been a year and a half since you left and I lost hope of you being alive. I guess I was lonely. Dickie swore he had changed. It was alright for a couple of years except he wouldn't let me talk to my friends. He said it was for my own good, because they would only remind me of how depressed I was when you were declared missing and probably dead. Somehow it made sense to me, in a twisted sort of way. Then a couple of years after he became Governor, things changed."

"Changed how?"

"When his father died and Dickie inherited all that wealth, he became like a tyrant, a despot, with an inflated opinion of himself and his own importance. The worst part was that whenever I did something he considered wrong, he would hit me later on when we went to bed. And sometimes, especially when he was drunk, he would punish me by raping me." Tears were running down her face. Carlos ached for her, wanting to hold her and comfort her. He scooted up the bed and rubbed his hand over her wringing, restless hands. She closed her eyes and let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding.God, it felt so good to be connected to Carlos again.

"Why didn't you divorce him?"

"It would ruin his career if I did, and the prenup I signed meant I would lose everything. It also allowed him to sue me in Civil Court for damages to his reputation and political career. I would have been in debt for the rest of my life, the bastard."

"So, do they know who murdered him?"

"No they don't. They are still investigating. They found a rooftop oa nearby building that was the most likely place from which the gunman killed Dickie. But they found no other evidence there. The police suspect it was a professional hitman, so I still don't know if I was also supposed to be killed that night. It's nerve wracking to think that I'm a possible target. The sate has provided security for me just in case. I have to have a bodyguard with me whenever I go out and this home has a state-of-the-art security system. Plus, there are always two bodyguards outside my home."

"They may yet find that person."

"I'm not sure they ever will, not that I really care, fo Dickie's sake. I mean, whoever it was did me a HUGE favor. So, what are you doing now, Carlos?"

"I'm done with the Army. So right after I got out, I recruited some guys I served with and started a company called Rangeman. We provide security for people's homes and businesses. We're also bounty hunters and occasionally are hired as bodyguards."

"Very cool. I don't know what I'm going to do now. I'm sure I'll find something."

"I can find you something at Rangeman. We always need good help since we are growing all the time," Carlos said as phone buzzed. He pulled it out of his jacket and saw that was a missed call. "I have to go." He stood up to head downstairs.

"It was great seeing you again, Babe. I'd like to come back and spend more time with you, if that's OK?"

"I'd like that a lot, Carlos," Steph said as she watched him leave. When Carlos got in the car, he dialed the number to return Shadoe's call.

"Same here," Steph said as she watched him leave. When Carlos got in the car, he dialed the number.

"Mr. Manoso, so glad to hear from you."

"Hello sir."

"Good work on the job on Dickie."

"Thank you sir."

"I have another assignment for you."

"Who is it?"

"I sent the file over your phone."

Carlos opened the file and what he saw made his blood run cold.

"Did you get it?"

"Yes I did."

"Great. Have a good night."

Carlos still couldn't believe what he saw. Stephanie Plum was next on the list to be killed. Carlos had made a decision. As he got out of the car when Ava drove up beside him.

"Did you get the message? Does Stephanie Orr live here?"

"Yeah."

"Great, let's do it." Ava said parking the car.

Carlos had to do something quick. Ava shot all the bodyguards. Carlos knocked. Ten seconds later, Steph answered the door.

"Hi. You're back. What's up?"

"Are you Stephanie Orr?" asked Ava.

"Yes," she said looking to Ava and Carlos.

"Good," said Ava pulling out her gun.

"Wait, let me do it," said Carlos pulling out his gun.

"Carlos, what is going on?" Steph asked, a cold chill of fear taking over her body.

"Shut up, bitch!" he snarled at Steph, acting out his part. He looked back at Ava. "I will handle this Ava, you wait outside."

"I want to kill her," whined Ava. You killed Dickie."

"What!? You killed Dickie?" Steph's eyes widened.

"Yes. He needed to be killed and Carlos here did a wonderful job. I don't know why Shadoe didn't include you then, but now we're here to finish the job. Kill her or I will. Ok then, if you won't do... " said Ava aiming her gun at Stephanie. Ava was just about to shoot her when Carlos hit Ava in the back of her head with a bat. Ava dropped the gun and fell to the porch floor.

"Come on we need to leave. I will explain when we get to my house. Please, she won't be out long. I'm not going to kill you," Carlos saw the bags that she had brought in with her from the limo that were still sitting in the living room and picked them up to take with them.

Steph walked out the door stepping around Ava's inert frame and into Carlos' car. She sat as far away as she could. She couldn't stop shaking. It was a silent ride to the house. When Carlos reached the end of the driveway, Steph noticed that the house was huge. It wasn't a house, it was a mansion. He drove down a hill and into an underground garage. She noticed what looked like a fleet of vehicles: two Porches, two Escalades and 2 F250 Ford Trucks. All black. He got out of the car and helped her out, taking her bags from the back. He led her to an elevator which stopped on the first floor. Carlos asked her to wait inside while he strode out on the Control Room floor, calling for Tank. The two men had a brief conversation and Carlos hustled back to the elevator and went up two more floors. The elevator stopped and the doors opened. Carlos stepped out and opened a door across from the elevator. He set down her bags and went over to the window. He made sure the windows were locked and the curtains were closed.

"You will be safe now. Babe."

"Safe? What the hell is going on?" She was still shaking and trying to make sense out of what was happening.

"Remember I told you about when I was in the Army? Well this is how that came about. As I was recuperating and rebuilding muscle and stamina after that horribly long time away, the Colonel and a government alphabet agency handler named Shadoe, noticed how good I was with a gun. Shadoe told me I would make a good marksman. Since the Army's Sniper School was at Fort Benning, GA where I already was at the time, I figured it would give me something interesting to learn. I was fully trained by the time my enlistment was up. I didn't re-up, bu t I did sign a contract that I would put my skills to use on an as-needed basis for the next five years. That contract is almost over now. I left the Army and started my business. A few weeks ago, Shadoe called me and said I have a target to take care of. He gave me the details of the person I was to kill. I really didn't know Dickie was your husband."

"You were hired to kill Dickie?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yes."

"Did you bring me here to kill me too?" asked Steph, shaking from her frayed nerves.

"No, Babe," said Carlos softly as he brought his hand up to brush his knuckles on the side of her face. Steph flinched at first, then opened her eyes and bit her lower lip as she nodded to him, forcing herself to acknowledge that it wasn't Dickie hitting her again. This time she allowed Carlos to touch her. He saw her reaction and remembered the abuse she had taken for years. He looked into her eyes and slowly, gently touched her face. He smiled at her as she accepted his caress even though she was uncomfortable. My Babe is one amazing woman! " I brought you here to be safe. You know I wouldn't have killed you. I had to play the part for Ava." she silently nodded at him again.

"A-are you two together?" she managed to get out.

"No, not romantically. Just a fuck buddy."

Steph suddenly felt sick to her stomach. She bit her lower lip again, hard, to distract herself from that thought. She took a deep breath.

"What if she comes here and finds that I'm not dead?"

"She won't come here, but if she does, she won't be bale to get in because I locked her out of the security system here. Ava will not find you. Stay in here and you'll be safe, but I have to go back to your place to make it look like I killed you and I need to do that now. She will be wondering why I hit her," Carlos explained as he sprinted to the door. Steph ran after him.

"Don't leave me here alone."

"You're not alone. My staff, including my housekeeper, Ella, are on the first floor. PLease, stay here. This place is secure. I won't let anything happen to you. I will be back in an hour," said Carlos kissing her lightly on the mouth and leaving. Steph sat on the bed as tears started to fall. She had never been more scared in her life.

Chapter 5

When Carlos arrived at Steph's house and opened the door, Ava was still lying on the floor. He carried her and put her on the couch. Carlos went upstairs to pack Steph's clothes and bathroom stuff. He put her stuff in the trunk of his car and went inside the house. He dropped fake blood on the floor and everywhere else. He messed up the furniture and tore the curtains. He went over to Ava and carried her out the door,into his car and drove her he got to her apartment, he carried her her inside and into her laid her down on the bed and took off her boots. He covered with a blanket and left her apartment. Carlos quickly drove out of her apartment complax and back to the mansion. He pulled Steph's clothes and toiletries bags from his trunk. He sprinted to the control room and wanted to know if everything was good. There didn't seem to be any trouble. He took the elevator to the third floor and opened his Rangeman apartment door. The lamp beside the bed was on. Carlos knew she was there before he saw her from the tingling on the back of his neck. He smiled as he walked into the bedroom and placed her bags on the floor. He saw that as Steph sat up in bed, she, too, was touching her neck. She acknowledged the bags he had brought her with a nod of her head and a smile.

"How did everything go? What did you do with Ava?" Steph asked.

She will still out when I went back there. I drove her back to her apartment. I used fake blood and put it on the floor and walls. I turned over furniture and tore curtains. She'll believe I actually killed you if she decides to see for herself."

She nodded and he sat down beside her.

"I'm sorry I got you into this and I will take care of it," Carlos said taking her hand. Steph nodded. She knew he would keep his word.

"I still have your dog tags," Steph said, changing the subject as she picked up her clutch bag. She sat back down on the bed and took them out. "I have the one you gave me and the one that the Colonel gave me. I never got rid of them. I had to hide them from Dickie or else he would've trashed them. I prayed everyday that you would come back until the Colonel told me you died. I couldn't believe that. A year and a half later, I put these in a box. I married Dickie cause I had to move on. I never stopped thinking about you, Carlos. I really have to thank you for saving me when Dickie almost raped me. He didn't like what I was wearing and told me to change. It was a red Flora Bellflower Babydoll with panties. He said I looked like a hooker."

"I'm sure I would've loved it," Carlos commented, his pupils dilating, making his eyes look very dark, almost black.

"I'm sure you would," said Steph smiling. They stared into each others eyes as Carlos kissed her. She missed Carlos so much. Carlos took off his boots and got on the bed with Steph. They took off their clothes and made unhurried love. She caressed his smooth, muscled arms and back.

"I love you Steph," Carlos whispered in her ear.

"I love you Carlos," she whispered back.

They both shouted each others names as they plunged over the edge together. Carlos laid beside Steph and gathered her in his arms. She felt so safe.

"Don't leave," said Steph

"I'm not going anywhere."

Carlos kissed her forehead and the both fell asleep, content for the first time in many years.

The next morning, Carlos woke up early. He sat up and put on his clothes. Steph opened her eyes to see what was going on.

"Where are you going?"

"Going for a jog, Babe. Want to come along?"

"No thank you and what time is it?"

"Five."

"Too early. I'm going back to sleep."

Carlos smiled and left. It was raining so Carlos went downstairs to jog on the treadmill. A few minutes later, Tank came walking in.

"How is everything with Steph?"

"Good for now," said Carlos telling him the whole story.

"Let's hope Ava doesn't find Steph."

"I know she won't. Steph is safe here."

Half an hour later, Carlos used the bench press for 45 minutes and then went back upstairs to shower. Carlos walked in the room to find the bed empty. Must be in the shower. Hmmm...this has possibilities! thought Carlos.He took off his clothes and silently walked in the bathroom. He quietly opened the shower door and closed it. He put his arms around Steph and she quickly turned around.

"Shit, Carlos! Don't ever do that again!" Steph's heart was pounding.

"Sorry. I thought I'd surprise you."

"Bad surprise. I barely had time to register that my neck was tingling as you grabbed me. I'm terrified that it could've been Ava."

"She can't get in the house. This place is very protected like Fort Knox."

"Let's hope so," said Steph kissing him. They washed each other and dried off. Carlos went to his room to get dressed and met Steph in the hallway. Together they went downstairs to eat breakfast. When they arrived in the kitchen, there was a woman cooking at the stove. She turned around came over to them. She was short and appeared to be Puerto Rican.

"Morning Carlos."

"Morning Ella. This is Stephanie Plum."

"Good to meet you," said Ella, extending her hand.

"Same here," Steph said with a smile.

"So what would you like to have?"

"Do you have any donuts?"

"Nope, no donuts here. How about eggs and toast?" said Carlos. "More healthy than donuts."

"Ok." said Steph.

"Eggs it is," said Ella.

Carlos came back with coffee. Steph sipped and blanched.

"Where is the cream and sugar?"

"There isn't any. All that cream and sugar isn't good for you Babe."

"Who drinks coffee without cream and sugar?"

"We all do," said Carlos. Steph rolled her eyes in response.

Carlos went over to the stove and brought her plate of eggs and toast to Steph. Carlos had a what bagel with lox. She ate all her eggs and half of her toast. Steph would not touch that coffee. When Carlos finished his bagel, his phone chirped.

"Yo! I'll be right there. An alarm went off at one of my accounts, so I have to go check it out," Carlos said getting up.

"I would like to come with you. I would like to see what you do."

"No, Babe, I'd rather you stay here. I don't want to take the chance that I might run into Ava."

"I'll stay in the car then."

"Ok, but stay hidden anyway. Please!"

The descended in the elevator to the garage holding hands and grinning at each other. Carlos was looking forward to integrating Steph into every aspect of his life. Too much time has been lost already.

Chapter 6

Ava woke with a headache. She didn't remember drinking last night. Then she remembered that Carlos hit her in the head with a bat. She felt a bump in the back of her head. It still hurt. She went to the bathroom and took a couple of Ibuprofen. She went to look for her phone, but couldn't find it. It must've fallen out of her jacket pocket when Carlos hit her. And where the hell is my gun? she wondered. She would have to drive over there to find them. She took a quick shower, grabbed coffee, grabbed her keys and left her apartment. When she walked out the door, she couldn't find her car. Carlos must've driven her home. She noticed a guy walking out to his car across the street.

"Excuse me, sir. May I borrow your phone?"

She called for a taxi and it arrived five minutes later. The taxi dropped her off at the beach house and waited for the taxi to drive away. She looked around to see if anyone was looking and snuck in the house. She noticed blood on the floor and walls. She looked for her phone everywhere. She found it underneath one of the cushions of the sofa but never did find her gun. She heard voices outside the door so she quickly went to the lanai doors and snuck out. She climbed up and hoisted herself up onto the cedar-shingled, rustic-look roof.

"I know I saw someone walk into this house and it certainly wasn't Miss Plum."

"What did this person look like?"

"Well, she was tall, skinny, dark long hair, wearing a black leather jacket and leather pants and black boots."

The woman described Ava well. The cop knocked.

"Maybe it was a friend of hers," the cop said. "Hello, Miss Plum?" called the cop knocking. "I'm going to go around to the back."

As the cop turned to walked away from the front door, he noticed something odd behind the bushes. He looked in and found two bodies laying on the ground. They were shot in the head.

"Oh, shit! This is bad. This explains where the bodyguards got to last night."

"What's the matter?"

"Ma'am, you need to go home. Thanks for calling this in. I can handle this now."

"Ok."

The cop watched her leave and called for backup, requesting Homicide detectives, a forensics team and the City Coroner, while briefly filling Dispatch in on what was happening. He walked to the back of the house. Ava pulled out her lighter as she watched the cop approach the back windows, getting a good look at the interior bloody mess. She lit the roof the dry, old cedar shingles of the roof on fire jumped off the roof and ran to her car that had sat there all night and sped off. She parked a couple blocks down and turned to see the smoke. Ten minutes later, police cars and fire trucks sped by. Satisfied with her work, Ava calmly drove out of the neighborhood to find Carlos.

Carlos, Tank and Steph arrived at a law firm called Gordon, Smith and Winters where the alarm went off. They were in there for a good twenty minutes. When they walked out and got into the Escalade, a car pulled up alongside the curb. When the person got out of the car, it was Ava. Steph was glad she was in the back seat of a vehicle with heavily tinted windows, as she dove down and hid herself on the floor.

"How did you find me here?" asked Carlos.

"I have ways. This morning, I went back to the beach house to look for my phone. It must've slipped out of my jacket pocket when you hit me. Thanks a lot and my head still hurts. I was just about to leave when I heard voices outside the front door. Someone must've seen me sneak into the house. Anyways, I snuck out the back door and onto the roof. The cop knocked to find no one answering the door. Then he found the two bodies in the bushes and called it in. Then the cop walked to the back of the house. I then lit the roof on fire and then that's when I escaped."

"You did what?"

"I had to get rid of the evidence. I saved both of our lives."

"Someone saw you and someone probably saw you when you left the scene after you set the roof on fire. You had best leave town."

"Not without you. We're a team."

"Not anymore. You're on your own," said Carlos walking away.

"You're making a big mistake."

Carlos watched her get in the car and drive away. Carlos got in the truck as Steph sat up in the seats.

"What did she want?"

"She went back to get her phone at your house and someone saw her sneak in the house. A few minutes later, a cop came to investigate. She snuck out the back door and onto the roof. She set the house on fire to get rid of the evidence."

"What!? She burned down my house. I need to get to the police station..."

"Whoa! Hold up. The police are probably looking for you and they probably have called you. Did you leave the phone at the mansion?"

"Yes I did."

"Then you will need to check your phone when we get back."

When they arrived back at the mansion, Stephanie checked her phone. Two missed calls. One was the police asking her to call them as soon as possible. The other was Mary Lou. She called the police station first. She put the phone on Speaker so Carlos listen.

"Hi, this is Stephanie Plum. I am returning a call from someone named Cole?"

"Yes. I will transfer the call."

A second later, the line picked up.

"Stephanie Plum?"

"Yes. I believe you called me?"

"Yes I did. Are you ok, nothing bad has happened to you?"

"No, nothing why?"

"Apparently, someone broke into your house. There was blood on the floor and walls and furniture was turned over. The cop that came over found the two bodyguards shot in the head. When the coroner moved the bodies to transport them, he found a pistol equpped with a silencer underneath. We are running prints found on it and doing a ballistics test to see if it is, in fact, the murder weapon. Then, as they were working the scene, someone set your house on fire. Based on what the first cop on the scene saw, we feared the worst, but we were so glad we found you alive."

"I stayed overnight at a friends house. I told my two bodyguards to stay at the house cause my friend is no threat. Oh my God, if I had taken them with me, they'd still be alive. And my house! Who would do such a thing?"

"No idea, but there was a witness. One of your neighbors saw the person who entered your house. A woman with long brown hair, skinny and wearing all black. Then another witness saw the woman set fire to the , jump off the roof and get into a silver car."

"Did this witness get a good look at the woman?"

"She took a picture from her phone. Could you come down here and maybe you can identify who it is?"

"I certainly will try."

"Great. That will help us a lot."

"I will be there in 45 minutes."

"Awesome. I'm so glad that you're ok."

"Thanks," said Steph hanging up.

"You should've killed Ava instead of knocking her out."

"Yeah, that's what I should've done."

"I need to get to Mary Lou's," said Steph getting up.

"I will take you there. Ava can be anywhere."

"She wouldn't be here in Miami."

"She can disguise herself so that you'd never recognize her. I need to do the same for you and I will do that after we pick up Mary Lou. Tank is driving."

"I will call her first. She has a shoulder-length blonde wig I'm sure she'll let me borrow." Steph called Mary Lou and asked her to bring the wig for her as she needed to disguise herself.

"No problem, Steph. But I want the full scoop, ASAP!"

Mary Lou locked her front door and walked out to the Escalade, opened the door and slid in, giving Tank a once-over, curious look. When Mary Lou sat down and turned to see what Steph was doing, she was stunned to see Carlos.

"Oh, holy cow, Steph, I can't wait to hear this whole story. So, where are we going?" asked Mary Lou as she handed Steph the bag with the blonde wig in it.

"I will tell you on the way," said Steph opening the bag and removing the realistic blonde wig. Carlos nodded and helped her pull her hair into a ponytail, twisting it until her hair could fir under the wig and have it look natural. He used his fingers to comb the stray hairs into place. Steph wished her real hair took only moments to look finished.

"Ok," said Mary Lou calmly, watching Steph don the wig.

Steph told her about what happened to her house and the two dead bodyguards as Carlos finished disguising Steph. She told Mary Lou to go along with her saying that she spent the night at her home because Ava will kill her if she found her alive. That's why she needed to go look at the crime photos in disguise. Forty five minutes later, they arrived at the police station.

"Tank and I will wait outside," said Carlos.

Stephanie and Mary Lou went inside the station and walked up to the receptionist and introduced herself.

"Oh yes. I will call Cole and let him know you're here."

A few minutes later, a plain-clothed detective with dark hair who looked to be in his thirties approached them.

"Stephanie Plum?" Wow! She's much prettier in person, even in a wig!

"Yes," she said, standing up, offering her hand to the detective.

"Great, come with me," he invited, releasing her soft hand, "And call me Cole."

The women sat in the two chairs in front of his desk while he closed the door.

"Mrs. Orr...I mean Ms. Plum, is that wig you're wearing? I've only seen you with curly brown hair in your photos with the late Governor."

"Good eye, Detective...uhm, Cole. And call me Steph, by the way. I am wearing this as a disguise. I may still be on someone's hit list and I want to mimimize my exposure especially when I don't have the state-assigned bodyguards with me". Oh, shit! I wonder if they will ever assigned more bodyguards to me after this.

""Oh, uh...Cole, this is my best friend, Mary Lou Stankovic, the one I stayed with last night."

"Ok, why did you go there?"

"I felt lonely and I hadn't seen Mary Lou in a while, so I went there for a visit."

"Ok. I want you to see if you can identify this person so we can find her," said Cole, placing a couple of pictures in front of Steph. Steph knew who it was, but Steph didn't want to link Ava and Carlos together. That would start too many questions she wasn't willing to answer.

"No, I'm sorry I don't know her." Steph said, shaking her head.

"Ok, we have every patrolman out there looking for her. You don't know any reason she would target your bodyguards and your house?"

"No I don't. I do want to know the answer to that when you arrest her."

"Don't we all."

They talked a few minutes more and left. They climbed into the Escalade once again and Tank pulled out of the police lot and onto the road before Steph turned to Carlos.

"I pretended not to know who she was cause I didn't want them to link Ava and you. They got every patrolman out there looking for her," said Steph as she kissed him softly.

"Good luck to them," said Carlos. The two held hands and everyone was silent for the drive.

When they got to Mary Lou's house, they all went in. Carlos told Mary Lou and Lenny the whole story of what happened to him and then Steph.

"Well, I'm glad you're alive and back with Steph. Not too sure that you being an assassin sits well with me," said Mary Lou.

"Once I find Ava, I will be done with that and focusing on other things," said Carlos, looking at Stephanie and grinning a potent smile.

"I hope you find her soon before she kills anyone else," said Mary Lou.

"Yes so do I," said Carlos.

Ava arrived at her apartment and put her car in the garage. She easily peeled the silver plastic skin wrap off the car and when she was done, she had a blue car. She changed the plates and went upstairs. She took off her jacket and went to her closet. She removed a box and put it on the bed. She opened it and pulled out a blonde wig. She put her hair in a ponytail and put on the wig. It was long just like her own. Next she put on blue contacts and she looked at herself in the mirror. She looked like a whole different person. Carlos and everyone else would never know it was her. She changed her clothes and put on white jeans and a blue cotton shirt. She put some clothes in a bag and some personal belongings. She zipped up her bag and was about to go down to the garage when she heard a knock at the front door. When she opened the door, she saw two cops standing on the steps.

"May I help you?"

"We're looking for Ava Johnson. Is she here?"

"No. She called me up last week and asked me if I could house sit for her."

"Who are you?"

"I'm Devana, her sister."

"Do you happen to know where she went?"

"No I don't. She never tells me anything anymore," she whined, perfectly disguising her voice.

"Well, if you happen to see or hear from her. Please let us know," said the second cop, handing her a card.

"I will do that. May I ask what she has done?"

"Burned down a house and fleeing the scene. Have a good day ma'am."

She waited till the cops left. She went down to the garage, opened the garage door, got in her car and drove off.

Chapter 7

Carlos and Stephanie made it back to the mansion a few minutes later as Tank drove the Escalade in the garage.

"Did you really mean it that you'll quit being an assassin and focus on something else?"

"Yes. I want to continue where we left off," said Carlos, gathering Steph in his arms.

"Oh, I like it," said Steph kissing him.

"Get a room," said Tank, getting out of the Escalade.

They made their way to the elevator and the doors opened. The elevator when up one floor.

"Where are we going?"

"To the gym. I would like to start you on self defense," Carlos said, as the elevator doors opened. When they entered the gym, Steph found Tank standing at the corner hitting a punching bag. He turned around and smiled.

"Hey, you two, I thought you were going to find a room for your activities. What are you doing in the gym?" asked Tank.

"Smartass," rejoined Carlos. "We are going to starttraining Steph in Self Defense. You want to help?" Steph's eyes went wide as she considered trying to escape from Tank. Crap! I don't really want to die...he's HUGE!

Both men chuckled as Steph spoke her thoughts aloud. Carlos sought to calm his Babe.

"You never disappoint! I thought we could start by demonstrating some holds and how to break them. I'll have Tank grab me from behind for the first one." Once she had seen the first move and the defense several times, Carlos tried the hold on her and she practiced how to get out of it.

Carlos trained Steph for an hour and he thought she did a wonderful job. Carlos gave her a bottled water and nearly drank the whole thing.

"Tomorrow, we'll do more. Let's go upstairs to have lunch."

Steph turned to Tank and walked over to him. "Thanks for your help today, Tank," she said as she rose up on tiptoe to kiss his cheek and give him a hug. The big, black muscular man stood there with a silly grin on his face. She returned to Carlos' side and was pulled into his arms as he placed a tender kiss on her lips.

"OK, what do you have for lunch, Carlos?"

"I can make us both Grilled Chicken salad."

"More healthy food?"

"It's better for you and you will live longer. I want to hold you in my arms for a long, long time," Carlos said as they made their way upstairs to the kitchen.

They talked while they ate.

"That was good," said Steph handing Carlos her plate to put in the dishwasher."Hey

"Good, I'm glad. I'm going to introduce more healthy food to you, and include some of your favorites, just made with healthier ingredients. You won't even know you're eating a nutritious version," Carlos said as they walked upstairs to shower. They showered together and made love. A few minutes later when he got out of the shower, he put a towel around his waist and left her room. As he was walking down the hall, Ella came around the corner. She smiled and kept on walking. Carlos got dressed and met Steph in the hallway.

"Come on, I would like to show you what we bounty hunters do," Carlos said, taking her hand and walking down the stairs. Carlos introduced her to everyone. Of course Lester bent over her hand and kissed it, for longer than Carlos wanted, causing a low growl of warning to erupt. Lester looked up at his cousin with a huge grin and stood up, releasing her hand. Carlos immediately captured that hand and brought it up to his lips as he gazed in her stunning blue eyes. Steph smiled and kissed him lightly to reassure him where her heart lives. The guys let out wolf whistles and cat calls, all in good fun, making Carlos smile as he ordered, "Back to work, all of you!" Carlos guided her to an office with his hand at the small of her back and found three files in the inbox.

"This isn't so bad. We usually get ten to fifteen of them," Carlos said looking through them. The last one really caught his eye.

"Well, look who we have here," said Carlos, turning the file around for Steph to see.

"Oh wow! The police must have issuded a warrant fairly quickly. Ava's on the run! And they're offering a pretty hefty reward," said Steph smiling.

"I say we go to her apartment and check things out. See if she left any clues behind. Let's go."

They both disguised themselves and drove to Ava's apartment.

"We'll park a couple blocks away so we don't get caught. These people are all out for the day, so we don't have to worry about someone calling the police. Carlos took out his lock pick and got the door open. They both searched the place. Carlos went in her room and found a wig box.

"She disguised herself with a blonde wig," said Carlos, sitting on the bed.

"I'm sure we'll find her. What is her favorite place to go?"

"Mango's Tropical Cafe. She loves that club and she goes there every night."

"Great. We'll go there tonight."

"Whoa, wait a minute. This is something you have to plan out. It can be dangerous, especially with Ava."

"I can put on another wig, have different colored contact lenses."

"It's not easy catching a wanted person. You have to do some good research, finding out what that person likes to do or some things you might talk about, to really strike up a conversation and try to get them out the door."

"Easy enough. You know Ava well, so that part's done. Dress me up and we'll get her tonight!"

"No, not tonight. You need to take more self defense training. Maybe tomorrow night."

"Ok great. So let's get out of here so I can do more training."

They left the apartment without being seen.

The next afternoon, Carlos and Tank helped Steph with self defense. She did an excellent job. That night, Steph put on a black Bodycon dress. Ella's daughter wore it once, to find out she didn't like it. Steph put on a blonde wig and put on brown contact lenses.

"Well, how do I look?" she asked Carlos.

"Very beautiful, but I still want you to be careful."

"I will."

"Are you ready?"

"Yes."

"Ok then, let's go."

The drive to Mango's was ten minutes. Tank parked at the curb as Carlos put a wire on Stephanie.

"We'll be listening to everything that is being said. Are you ready?"

"Yes I am."

"Good then."

They kissed and Steph got out of the Escalade and walked in the club. There were five blondes, three were standing and two were sitting at the bar. Steph sat at the far end of the bar to get a good look at the two. The one at the other end of the bar talking on the phone looked like Ava. Steph walked over to her and sat one stool away.

"Vodka please."

"Have you had a rough day?"

Steph turned to the woman that was talking to her.

"Yes. I got fired from my job and my boyfriend dumped me."

"That's horrible."

When the bartender filled Steph's glass, he took the bottle.

"Leave the bottle, she had a tough day."

"So, what horrible thing happened to you?" asked Steph, sipping her drink.

"Nothing horrible. I love this place. I come here every night. Name is Devana. You look familiar." Steph looked back at her, as if trying to see if 'Devana' looked familiar to her. Steph shrugged and shook her head at the same time, indicating that Devana did not look familiar to her. 'Devana shrugged back and let it go.

"Savannah. How about we go somewhere quieter?"

"No way. This place is hoppin. There are a lot of guys here Savannah. Which one stands out?"

"None of them really."

"Well, I see one. I'll be back."

Steph watched Ava dance with some guy. She thought this would be easy. Steph needed to think of something to get her out of the club. She walked over to her and tapped her on the shoulder. Ava turned around.

"Yes," she said smiling.

"I need to talk to you."

"What is it?"

"Outside."

"No, no, tell me here."

"No! I have to tell you outside!"

"Oh, alright! I'll be back," Ava said her dance partner.

Ava grabbed her purse and walked out of the club with Steph.

"Ok, what's up?"

Ava felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around. Steph quietly stepped behind the shrub at the entrance to the club. Since it was night, she would be fully hidden from Ava's view there. She didn't want Ava to connect her to Carlos' takedown in any way.

"Carlos! Have you come to apologize and work with me? Come on inside, we'll dance," she said taking his arm.

"No, I'm here to take you in," Carlos said, putting the cuffs on her.

"What? What for?"

"The arrest warrant says you are wanted for the murder of two men at a beach house. The state is even offering a reward for bringing you in. Apparently, the men were state employees, working as bodyguards."

"That's crazy, Carlos. They have no proof of that!"

"Said on a warrant that they have the murder weapon with your fingerprints all over it."

Ave opened and closed her mouth, repeatedly, looking like a dying fish.

"Take her to the station," said Carlos to Tank.

"You will regret this Carlos," Ava said, as Tank put her in the Escalade and watched them leave. Carlos stepped behind the shrub, smilign at Steph. He reached in her bra to remove the mic and turned it off, sliding it and his earpiece into his pocket.

"You did a great job, Babe. You aced your first time." Carlos wrapped her in his arms and gave her a bone-melting kiss. When they came up for air, Steph said,

"Thanks. It wasn't easy."

"It never is. Come on, let's go home," Carlos said, taking her hand. "I can think of a perfect way to celebrate your first successful takedown."

Chapter 8

"I'm telling you, Carlos Manoso is the one who killed Dickie Orr. He is the assassin."

"Yeah and I'm Gene Kelly," said Cole, closing the cell door.

"You have to believe me. Go to his mansion and you will find a sniper rifle in his closet."

"Enjoy your accommodations," said Cole leaving the room.

"She thinks Carlos Manoso is the assassin who killed Dickie," said Cole shutting the door to the holding cells. "To tell you the truth, I never liked the Dick head."

"Really!"

"Yeah. I didn't like what he wanted to do for the community or the state. Totally turned me off." Cole handed Tank the body receipt.

"Yeah, me too. Have a good night," said Tank.

"You too," said Cole, looking at his watch. 'Too late to call Stephanie about Ava. I will call her in the morning. Cole thought.

When Steph and Carlos arrived back at the mansion, Steph took off her wig and contacts.

"I feel so much better now."

"How did everything go?" Ella asked, as they sat down at the bar.

"She did a wonderful job for her first time," Carlos said, smiling.

"I thought Ava would never leave, but I managed to get her out."

"I'm glad everything went well. Hopefully Ava will not be a problem anymore."

"Let's hope not," agreed Carlos.

"I made Tuna Casserole and I'm going to turn in early. I'm tired and I have a headache."

"I hope you feel better."

"Thanks. Have a good night."

Carlos got out some plates and filled them and brought them over for them to eat. He brought back a couple of bottles of water.

"I hope Ella will be ok."

"She works hard everyday."

"Maybe you ought to have someone help her, to take the load off"

"No, she likes doing everything. She loves to be busy."

When they were done eating and just putting the dishes in the dishwasher, Tank came walking in.

"How did everything go?" asked Carlos.

"Everything is good. Cole told me as he walked out of the holding cells that Ava insists that Carlos Manoso is the assassin who killed Dickie but Cole never liked the Dick, so he couldn't be bothered listening to her nonsense. Your secret is safe but you'll probably get a call from Cole tomorrow," Tank nodded toward Steph.

Steph slept in Carlos' room that night. She heard him get up as she looked at the clock: 5 a.m. She went back to sleep and a couple of hours later, she was shaken awake.

"Time to get up Babe."

She turned over.

"Must I?"

"Cole is probably going to call you soon and may you have to go down there."

"Oh alright." she said getting up. Half an hour later, she went downstairs to see breakfast waiting for her. She looked into the bowl.

"What is this?"

"Oatmeal, apple and cinnamon flavor."

Steph put some on her spoon and tasted it.

"This is good."

"Good," said Carlos, placing a plate of whole-wheat toast next to the bowl with a jar of strawberry. Just Fruit spread and a knife with it. Steph happily opened the jar and topped her toast. Yum! This nutritious eating doesn't totally suck! She didn't dare drink the coffee. She finished her fruity toast and tasty oatmeal and drank a little of the orange juice. Half an hour later, her phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Is this Stephanie Orr?"

"Yes, this is Stephanie, but it's Plum now."

"Oh, sorry about that. This is Cole. Anyway, the reason I called is because Ava was caught last night. A bond enforcement agent brought her in. A bounty hunter, if you didn't know what a BEA was."

"Really! How wonderful! Where did this bounty hunter find her?"

"Mango's Tropical Cafe. I don't know how this bounty hunter found or even recognized her, but she's here in the holding cell. She told me this Carlos Manoso killed Dickie Orr. Now, I don't believe that Carlos would do this. Carlos Manoso is an upstanding citizen of Miami. For some reason, she seems fixated on him. I guess that happens sometimes when you are a community leader."

"Well, maybe he should become mayor," said Steph rolling her eyes and silently laughing at Carlos.

"Yeah, that would be nice, but we still don't know who killed Dickie and we may never know. Unfortunately, that also means that we may never know if you are still a target. I'm so sorry, Miss Plum."

"Please, call me Stephanie, Cole. It's easier than trying to remember my last name. Did you investigate Ava's apartment?"

"Yes, we did search it, but they didn't find anything else. Of course, we had already found the murder weapon when we recovered the bodies of the men she killed. So there wasn't anything special beyond that to search for. I don't think there was any reason to suspect that she was also Dickie Orr's murderer at the time, but if she were, that would explain she was at your beach house. She was probably trying to get rid of you, so you couldn't testify against her, just in case. I have to think that she torched your home to get rid of evidence of her presence there, attempting to kill you. Wrapping up loose ends, so to speak. I will spend some time questioning her, but I doubt she'll incriminate herself further."

"Well, Cole, since you say that there really wasn't anything in particular that the police were looking for, I have this feeling that her apartment may not have been throughly searched. There was no need to at that time. Maybe you should go with your guys to search her apartment again."

"You think so?"

"Can't hurt, right? I mean, as you say, now that there are additional crimes that are being investigated, they might find something they previously overlooked because it wasn't relevant or germane to the case."

"Ok. That makes a lot of sense to me, Steph. I will gather the crew and go over there again in 30 minutes."

"Great. Thanks for calling, Cole. I will be loking forward to your call later."

"I will do that, Stephanie. Bye now."

"I need to get going," said Carlos walking to the closet. He opened the door and pulled out a black box. Inside that black box was the gun that killed Dickie Orr.

"I'll be back," said Carlos, kissing her.

"Wait a minute. Her cell phone. Someone needs to get her phone out of evidence..."

"Don't worry, I have that covered," he said walking out the door.

Fifteen minutes later, Carlos arrived at Ava's apartment. He had already put her fingerprints all over the gun and box. He put the box where she kept her shoes. He put everything back where it supposed to be, using the black box behind the first row of shoes, with the second row on top of the long, flat box. You couldn't see it was anything other than a shoe storage component, unless you were searching with a fine-toothed comb. Perfect! he thought as he quickly left the apartment. Carlos parked two blocks away to watch as the police arrived at Ava's apartment. Twenty minutes later, Cole and one of his officers came out with the black box. Carlos smiled and left. When he got back to the mansion, Hector greeted Carlos and handed him the phone.

"Gracias." said Carlos.

"De nada," replied Hector.

When Carlos entered the kitchen, he saw Ella at the stove.

"How are you feeling, Ella?"

"Much better, Carlos, thanks for asking."

"Do you know where Steph is?"

"In the gym. She wanted to do more self defense training."

Carlos went down to the gym and found that she was training with Lester. Dios, she looks so hot, working out with mi primo! Another part of his anatomy twitched just then, apparently agreeing with him.

"This girl is good," reported Lester with a big smile on his face.

"How long have you been here?" Carlos asked, returning his cousin's smile.

"A little over an hour. How did everything go?" she asked, wiping the sweat from her face with a towel.

"Very well. I watched them walk out with the black box. So you should be getting a call soon."

"I can't wait to hear what Cole has to say. Did you get her phone?"

"One of my men did," Carlos said showing her the phone.

While she waited for the phone call, she got on the treadmill and did some walking to cool down. Fifteen minutes later, her phone rang. She turned off the treadmill and ran over to Carlos so he could listen.

"Hello?"

"Hey Steph, Cole here. I got good news for you. We went through Ava's apartment again and we found a black box and surely enough there was a snipers rifle inside. It's being checked for prints and ballistics to see if it matches the bullet that killed Dickie Orr."

"Great!" said Steph.

"Ah ha, I just got an answer. It is in fact Ava's prints. So now we have proof that she killed Dickie, but I'm sure she will tell her lawyer to plead Not Guilty. I should probably give Carlos Manoso a call and tell him that she had accused him. She really sounds obsessed and delusional, but I want him to be aware of the accusation."

They talked for another five minutes and then hung up. Cole was hoping he's get another chance to see Steph soon. She's so beautiful and sweet. Suck it up and be professional, Cole, or you'll be the one called obsessed! He let out a heavy sigh as he turned to fill out yet another report.

"I guess it's not time to celebrate yet," said Steph as she wrapped her arms around Carlos. His were at her waist, holding her so that he could look into her gorgeous blue eyes.

"No, but we can have our own celebration upstairs." His pants became tighter as several powerful twitches started to pitch a tent there.

"I like that idea," said Steph smiling, as she rubbed against him while planting a big kiss.

"Playing with fire, Babe," Carlos threatened with a smile on his luscious lips.

"Good. I love your heat! Steph teased as she squealed and ran out of the gym with Carlos close behind.

Chapter 9

"What!? Are you telling me you found a black box with a sniper rifle in my closet?" shrieked Ava.

"Yes. And It's got your prints on it. Plus, the ballistics test showed that it was a match for the bullet that killed Dickie Orr."

"That can't be. You should be searching Carlos Manoso's house. He's the one that killed Dickie." Cole was tired of Ava ranting on and on about this.

"That again? You know what? I'm going to give Carlos a call tomorrow and have him come down here and see if he knows you."

"Yes, call him and check his mansion. He has a sniper rifle hidden in that mansion of his, then you can arrest him!"

"I'm going to leave. I just wanted to give you that piece of news," said Cole leaving.

'Carlos is really going to regret this.' thought Ava.

Later that afternoon, Carlos sat up in bed. He turned to see Steph sleeping soundly. They had made love that was out of this world. He kiss her head, got up and walked to the French doors and opened them, walking out onto the balcony. He leaned on the railing and soaked up the sun, Steph woke up to see Carlos outside in all his glory. Steph got up and covered herself with a blanket and joined him. Carlos held out one arm, inviting her to stand in front of him, back back to his chest, He enclosed her with his arms.

"Won't someone see you?"

"Nope. Nobody can see at the angle of the house.

"Why did you come out here?"

"To think."

"About what?"

"What it would've been like if I hadn't joined the Army. We would've been married and had a couple of kids. That is if you wanted them."

She smiled.

"And you wouldn't have to stay hidden here."

"Don't blame yourself, Carlos. You did what you wanted to do. We found each other again and that's all that matters."

"Yeah, but something could still go down. What if Ava decides to contact the Colonel and tell him what's been happening? We're not out of the woods yet. I have to do something proactively. I'm contacting my lawyer and the Colonel."

"So you're saying Carlos Manoso is the assassin who killed Dickie Orr," said Skip Vance, Ava's lawyer.

"Yes."

"How can that be when they found the black box in your closet and your prints on everything?"

"He broke into my apartment and planted it there."

"From what I read, your apartment wasn't broken into. Everything was secure."

"Did they even check the registration of who owns the gun?"

"Yes, it's under your name."

"I'm being set up."

"How do you know Carlos?"

"We were in the Army together," said Ava, telling him the whole story. Half an hour later, Skip left.

After Steph got dressed, Carlos in his office talking to someone. When she drew closer to the door to his office, she now heard that Carlos was talking to two people. One must be his lawyer and the other the Colonel. Steph sat down cause she wanted to hear what was going on. It was a little over an hour when Carlos was finished with the call. Steph quickly got up as Carlos opened the door and found Steph standing by the door.

"Didn't mean to eavesdrop. How did everything go?"

"Very well. The Colonel and my lawyer are getting together."

"That's wonderful!" Steph said kissing Carlos.

"Carlos! There is someone here to see you," he heard Tank say over the intercom.

"I'll be right down," he keyed back.

"Please, stay here, Babe. We don't know who it is yet," Carlos said as he kissed her and strode down the hall and down the stairs to the main conference room. Tank was already there, sitting with the homicide detective. Carlos entered and extended his hand.

"Cole. What a surprise to see you here." The two men shook hands.

"Yeah it is. I hate to bother you, but I need to ask you some questions."

"Ok. What about?"

"Where were you between today 11:30 and 12pm?"

"I was here sparing with the guys."

"Can they vouch for that?" Cole asked, his eyes sliding to Tank and back to Carlos.

"Yes. We spared for two hours. That's how I got this black eye. This guy packs quite a punch," said Tank.

"May I ask what's going on?" asked Carlos.

"Ava talked to a lawyer today and told him about you and her in the Army. She said you both trained to be assassins."

"I may have used a sniper rifle while I was there, but that doesn't make me an assassin. I used all different kinds of guns. You can even call the Colonel. You know what we do Cole."

"Yes I do, I'm just telling you what I read. I don't believe what she is saying about you. She is trying to get herself out of it, but I don't see it happening. Thanks for your time Carlos. I'm glad we got that cleared up." Once again, the men shook hands as they rose.

"Same here," Carlos said, walking Cole out the door.

Steph came down the stairs as Carlos closed the door.

"Who was that?"

"Cole. Ava got herself a lawyer and told him everything about me. Cole doesn't believe what she's saying."

"Good! Let's hope the Colonel and your lawyer will get her off your back."

"I know they will and enough talk about this. How about going out to dinner?"

"I don't really feel like going out. Someone could be out there watching us. How about dinner and a movie in? I'm sure you have tons of movie."

"Sure, we can do that. Ella already made something. You pick out the movie and then join me in the kitchen.

Steph picked out the movie and joined Carlos.

"Mmmm, that smells amazing! What is this?"

"Ropa Vieja."

Carlos explained what goes into it and Steph started salivating. After they finsihed dishing up, they sat on the couch as Steph started the movie.

"What did you pick?"

"The Expendables."

When they were done eating, they set their plates aside and cuddled together. When the movie was over, Carlos noticed that Steph fell asleep. 'Dios, she is so beautiful. And I love being next to her and touching her. I especially love holding her as I sleep. Her presence is so soothing to me, he thought as he kissed the top of her fluffy curls. He turned off the TV, the lights and carried her upstairs. He pulled the covers back, took off her clothes and then his. He got in bed and gathered her in his arms and fell asleep.

Chapter 10

The next morning, Carlos was just coming back from his jog when his phone rang.

"Yo!"

Hi, Carlos, good morning. This is Reed."

"Good morning, Reed."

"Just wanted to let you know that the Colonel and I will be at your house in an hour," said Reed as Carlos looked at his watch. It was seven.

"I can be ready in an hour."

"Great. See you then."

Carlos quickly ran in the house and into the shower. When Carlos was done, he went in the bedroom to wake up Steph.

"Babe, wake up."

"What?"

"My lawyer and the Colonel will be here in about 45 minutes, so get moving."

Steph sat up with eyes half open. She slowly got up and went to the bathroom to shower. When she was done, she quickly dried off and didn't bother with her hair. She put it up in a ponytail. For clothes, she chose a blue blouse and a white skirt. Carlos chose black dress pants and a white dress shirt. They went downstairs to find the table had coffee, fruit and bagels for them and their guests. At exactly seven, the door bell rang. Ella went to answer it and two gentlemen stood there asking to see Carlos. Ella ushered them in and brought them to the dining room. Carlos and Steph both rose to greet them.

"Good to see you sir," Carlos said to the Colonel as he shook his hand.

"Good to see you, too"

"This is Stephanie Plum, the one I talked to you about."

"Good to meet you," said the Colonel, smiling at her. "I've heard so much about you."

"I'm sure you have," said Steph returning his smile.

"Reed, thanks for coming," said Carlos, shaking his lawyer's hands. "This is Stephanie Plum."

"My pleasure, Ms. Plum," Reed said as he checked out the former First Lady of Florida. I can see why Carlos is so taken with her. She's stunning! Her smile alone lights up a room.

"Call me Steph, please, Reed. I'm so glad you could meet with us today," she said, welcoming him.

"Let's sit down. There is coffee, fruit and bagels. Help yourselves," said Carlos sitting at the head of the table. Steph sat at his right, while the Colonel and Reed sat side by side on the other side of the table. The men helped themselves to coffee and Steph took a bagel.

"So Ava doesn't know you're alive," said the Colonel.

"No she doesn't. Carlos had to fake my death so she wouldn't come after me and to try to kill me and he brought me here to hideout."

"Maybe it would be a good idea to tell Cole where you have been staying all this time. He's beenpretty worried about you once it was reported about your bodyguards being killed and what looked like a bloodbath in your living room, followed by the fire. In fact, I think we should all go meet with Cole now and lay it all out, so we can see what we are dealing with," said Reed.

"Yeah," said Steph, "that sounds like an excellent idea, Reed."

"We'll meet you at the police station at nine," said Reed. I"ll call ahead to give Cole a heads up."

"Ok, we'll see you then," said Carlos, walking them to the door and then back to Steph.

"Are you ok?" Carlos asked.

"Yes, and though I think it is the right thing to do I still don't know how Cole will react to what we have been doing."

"Cole is a pretty understanding guy for a detective." Steph gave him a playful swat and an eye roll. "I'm kidding, Babe. Come on, everything will be fine," Carlos said, hugging her and kissing her sweetly on her forehead.

Carlos and Steph arrived at the police station five minutes before nine. They walked to the receptionist and she said his lawyer, the Colonel and Cole were already in the conference room. Steph hid behind Carlos. He took her hand and brought her in the room. Cole got up.

"Carlos, so good to see you again," Cole shook his hand. A curly head peeked out from behind Carlos. "Oh my God, Steph, this is a surprise. Thank God you're alright. I thought you were dead!" Cole pulled her into a heartfelt hug of joy. "What are you doing with Carlos Manoso?" She bit her lower lip in response to his question. Cole released her from his arms, but continued to hold her hand as he watched Steph.

"Let's sit down and everything will be explained," said Reed.

Carlos took her other hand and together they lead her to the table. Steph sat between Carlos and Cole, closely next to Carlos. Cole released her hand reluctantly, thinking. Her touch calmed me so quickly and filled me with peace. She is so magical.

"I met Steph ten years ago when she was working at a pizza place. We went on a date and got to know one another. We fell hard for each other, even though we only had a few days together. I had to leave for the Army for Basic Training. We kept in touch via email mostly and a few phone calls when I could. A government alphabet agency handler named Shadoe was evaluating all of the recent recruits for possible future special missions. My skills with a gun were noticed andboth Shadoe and the Colonel thought I would make a good marksman. The Colonel conveyed the offer to be trained as a sniper and I signed a contract of intent to serve. I didn't know I could be hired to kill civlians back in the States. I thought it was supposed to be used only when I went on military missions. Then hell broke lose in Colombia and the Colonel here thought I was dead he told Steph about me. They did send me out on some very tricky operations. One that I went on was in South America. There I met Ava and we became partners. Then all hell broke loose in Colombia and the Colonel here thought I was dead which he told Steph. She didn't want to believe it, but after a year and a half with no word from me, Steph had to let my memory go. That's she she married Dickie Orr and promised to help him become Governor of Florida. When I finally did resurface several years later, I was told that Steph had married. I never knew who she married...never wanted to know. So I didn't try to find her or get in touch with her.

Then one night, I get a call from Shadoe that I am supposed to kill Dickie Orr, the governor. So that night, I go to the house and killed him. I went to the funeral and was shocked to find Steph there, as Dickie Orr's widow. I didn't know she was married to him. I followed her to the beach house and waited 'til everyone left. Then her friend Mary Lou visited her for a while. After she left, I went to talk to her. Steph was as shocked to see me as you just were with her. She told me that Dickie had abused her for years. It got worse after he inherited his family's money. He blackmailed her onto staying with him, because as part of the prenup she signed, he had the right to sue her if she damaged his reputation or cost him his political career. She would be in debt for life. On top of that, he was always cheating on her and he and he smacked her across the face whenever she didn't obey. If he was particularly mad or had been drinking he would rape her. This is what was happening the night I killed him. Dios! If only I knew what was going through..."

Steph was sitting there quietly, with her head looking down, ashamed of what had occured. Tears were streaming down her face, dripping into her lap. Carlos was still holding her hand and tugged her into his lap. He wrapped her in his arms and just held her close. Cole moved over to the credenza and grabbed a box of tissues, handing them to her. She accepted them with a nod and pulled several out, blotting her cheeks and blowing her nose. "Sorry," she said. The Colonel, Reed and Cole all looked at her with such sorrow on their faces. They wished this wonderful woman had not had to endure such horrors, right under the noses of a whole state. How could they have missed this?

"No need to be sorry, Babe. You did nothing wrong." He kissed her temple softly and held her tightly for a moment. She seemed calmer and he proceeded with the story.

"Back to the night of the funeral at the beach house. I told her what happened to me and then I had to leave. When I got in my car, I got a call from Shadoe that I have another target and the target was Stephanie. I was absolutely stunned. Then Ava showed up right then and said that she had gotten the same call. So we went to the door and Ava killed the bodyguards and hid them in the bushes. I knocked and as Steph opened the door, Ava aimed the gun at her. I spoke up and I told Ava I would kill Steph and told her to wait outside. She said no, she wanted to kill her. We got into a scuffle so I knocked her out and took Steph to my place. I brought her there and explained to her that I didn't bring her there to kill her. I brought her there to protect her. I explained to Steph what happened to me. She finally relaxed. I went back to the beach house to find Ava still unconscious. What I did was to create a scene make Ava believe that I killed Steph. I used fake blood, the professional kind that movie studios use. I put it on the floor and walls and I overturned furniture to make it look like there was a struggle and Steph put up a fight. I did all that to make Ava believe that I killed Steph, just in case she went back there, which she did. I carried Ava, still unconscious, out of the house and brought her back to her apartment. Then that next day, you obviously know what happened."

"Yeah, her phone fell out of her coat. Thanks for telling me the truth about you and what really happened. You're still a good person. Do you know who this Shadoe person is?"

"No, Cole, I don't. It's just a voice on the other end of the phone."

"Do you think you would recognize that voice if you heard it again?"

"Hard to say, because the voice comes through a synthesizer and is totally artificial sounding. My guess is that it is someone who wanted their identity to remain a deep secret."

"Just a moment," Steph interrupted, sliding off of Carlos' lap and beginning to pace. "Carlos, when you were first recruited to train as a sniper, it was the Colonel and Shadoe who had observed you and made the recommendation, correct?"

"Yeah, Babe. What are you thinking?"

"Well, you told me that the Colonel approached you alone that day and made the offer, without Shadoe, is that right?" Steph was grinning, like she had just won the lottery.

"Right so far, Babe," Carlos agreed. He loved seeing how his Babe's mind worked. She is absolutely brilliant. No wonder Dickie Orr used her to look good in the eyes of the voters. She was probably behind most of the key innovative pieces of legislation that had been proposed by the governor. He would have been nothing without her.

"Colonel, you've met Shadoe in person, haven't you?"

"Just that once, oddly enough." Where is she going with this?

"Hang on. Just a sec'." Steph quickly leaned over, reaching for a police file from in front of Cole. "May I?" she requested, meeting his eyes and receiving an affirmative nod. She was still smiling when she placed a photo from the file down on the table in front of the Colonel.

"Is this Shadoe?"

"Why, yes, it is." He tilted his head, looking at her quizzically. She slid the photo over to Carlos.

"What the fuck? This is crazy! Colonel, this is Ava! I still don't see the connection, Babe."

Steph turnrf to Cole and placed a hand on his forearm. "It seems I owe an apology to the officer who took my statement the night of Dickie's murder." All four men were looking at her, totally lost. But Steph kept right on track and led them all to her conclusion. "The officer asked me about my husband's many so-called secret affairs, which I knew about. He wondered if Dickie had broken off with one recently and could it have been a jilted lover who killed him? Being a smart mouth, I said, 'No, I don't think my husband was dating a sniper!' I think the officer snorted before saying that professional hit men were fairly easy to hire in the right circles." Carlos smiled and nodded to her again.

Steph looked at each face before she whipped out her phone, pressing all the command buttons to access her hidden photo library. Using her finger to flick through each picture, she stopped and then smiled a very self-satisfied grin. She turned her cell phone around and showed each man the clandestine photo snapped of the governor having a romantic dinner with his most recent paramour.

"Ava, I thought she looked familiar but I couldn't place her until now. I didn't know her name, but I always knew of my husband's many extramaritial lovers. I paid his bodyguards very well to keep me informed, complete with photos. They hold told me a few days earlier that he had cast her aside in favor of a new one. I guess she really didn't like that Dickie had tossed her away for another piece. She was beyond pissed, mad enough to want him dead, but didn't want to take the chance of doing it herself and getting caught. So she figured she could use Carlos, who would follow Shadoe's orders. Carlos is damned good, and it would never have been traced back to him. Then she ordered him to kill me as as well, just to make sure I never pursued Dickie's murder. But Ava just couldn't help herself, she showed up telling Carlos that she had gotten the Hit Order, too. That's when she killed the two State bodyguards and almost shot me as well. Carlos saved my life by knocking her out and faking my death." Steph walked over to stand next to Carlos.

"Gentlemen, Ava used valuable 'US Government Property,' Steph said as she placed a hand on Carlos' shoulder and bent down to kiss him in order to soften the use of the cold description of her lover, "for personal gain, a clear violation of the US Government Services Administration rules under Title 41 of the Federal Code, Section 101 pertaining to Federal Property Management Regulations, so Uncle Sam will not be pleased with her actions, either." All of the men looked at Steph with such respect and awe in their eyes. And great big smiles.

She would make a top-notch prosecuting attorney, thought Reed

An amazing military analyst and strategist, thought the Colonel.

A first-rate detective. Incredible. And so beautiful, too. thought Cole.

My Babe will make huge contribution as part of my company. But most of all, she's made me complete. I couldn't ask for a more perfect soulmate, thought Carlos.

"And finally, gentlemen, let me summarize by saying that although the crimes committed by Ava/Shadoe were in the state of Florida, the nature of them, the abuse of her government position and the prominence of her targets surely bump this case up to a federal jurisdiction, maybe even under the purview of Homeland Security, wouldn't you agree?"

All four men were bobbing their heads with their mouths open, except Carlos. His mouth was smiling his support of his Babe.

"How do you know all these federal rules, Babe?" he asked, the first of the men to regain his voice.

"My late husband and I were constantly surrounded by legistors who discussed many legal issues. I also did my own research and study of a variety of issues in order to draft legislation for the governor to present as his own, and therefore bolster his reputation."

Ahah! thought Carlos. I was right. My Babe wrote many of the most respectedpieces of legislation of the past years!

"Wow! That's amazing, Steph! Well, I have to go talk to Ava's lawyer and let him know that the case is now under federal jurisdiction. I'll draw up the formal charges and present them to the Miami PD so that we can transfer Ava to a federal penitentiary to await trial. I'll let you all know when that will happen. I'd say we're donw here?" asked Reed.

"Yes, if anyone else doesn't having anything more to say," asked Cole.

Everyone was silent and then rose and left.

"Are you ok Steph?" asked Cole, as he walked her down the hallway.

"I just feel so bad for lying to you," said Steph as she hugged him and kissed his cheek. Cole stood there, dumbfounded...and very happy.

"Don't worry, you did what you had to do to stay safe and I'm not angry. Excuse me, I have work I have to get done."

"Told you he was understanding," said Carlos walking her out the door.

"I just hope everything goes smoothly."

"I know it will. Ava will be taken care of and I will get my life back."

Later that morning, Reed and the Colonel met with Ava's lawyer.

"So Ava's case is now a federal one and she will be transferred to a federal penitentiary?" asked Vance. Do you have proof she killed Dickie Orr?"

"Yes we do," said Reed, turning on the TV. Vance watched intently. Five minutes later, the screen went blank.

"Well, this changes everything. I will show this piece of proof to her."

"You may not have to. I think this trial should be private with our clients and yours," said Reed. I'm sure I can arrange it with whichever federal judge will be hearing the case. My advice, after seeing the preponderance of evidence that we have against your client as Governor Orr's murder, would be for Ava to enter an Alford plea on the charge of murder in the first degree of Governor Orr, plead guilty to lesser charges of solicitation of two murders, abuse of federal authority in ordering the hits, the murder of the two Florida state bodyguards, and the misuse of federal property for personal gain. Most likely, she will get a life sentence with no chance of parole, but by pleading in this way, she can avoid the death penalty. I will talk it over with the judge and I will call you when everything is arranged."

"Thank you," said Vance as all three men got up, shaking hands.

"Refresh my memory, Reed. What is an Alford plea?"

"An Alford Plea is one in which the defendant does not admit guilt but acknowledges that the prosecution has sufficient evidence to convict."

"Perfect, Reed. That will wrap it up neatly."

"I think everything will go nicely," said Reed to the Colonel as they walked down the hallway.

"Yes, it should. Carlos and Steph deserve each other and a happy life together," said the Colonel. "Isn't she something? He's alucky bastard!"

"She's made him so happy."

"Yes she has."

Chapter 11

When Carlos and Steph arrived back at the mansion, Steph was about to get out of the car when Carlos grabbed her arm and she turned, started.

"What's the matter, Carlos?"

"Let's go out tonight. We deserve to have a night to ourselves."

"What if there is another person targeting us?"

"We'll have Tank and Lester on lookout. Come on."

"Ok, fine."

"Awesome! I love you," he said kissing her.

By four, Steph looked in the closet to see what she was going to wear. She found a Gracefully Yours black dress. She got in the shower and she shaved and exfoliated. When she got out of the shower, she thoroughly towel dried her hair and blow dried it. She made it extra curly and kept it down. Next, she put on a little mascara and eyeliner. Then she put on her dress and admired herself in the full length mirror. She put on her shoes and gathered her wallet. When she opened the door, she found Carlos, standing there, like he was about to knock. He looked handsome in his dark blue Armani suit with his hair pulled back with a tie. Yum! she thought.

"Beautiful as always," Carlos said smiling.

"Thank you. You're very handsome in that. In fact, you lok good enough to eat!"

Carlos shook his head rapidly, trying to regain control over where his mind just went. Dios, she's just stunning! His pants just got a big snug. Keep thinking like that and we'll never make it out to dinner! My Babedeserves this very special treat.

"Gracias," he managed. Are you ready?"

"Yes. Where are we going?"

"Tampa," he said, leading her down to the garage. When they arrived there, a limo waited.

"Limo service?"

"I forgot, I'm sorry. You probably had enough of that."

"No, I don't mind it. As long as Dickie isn't in it."

"The drive to the restaurant is four hours, so we'll be taking my private jet. It will only be an hour."

"I hate flying," Steph confessed, grabbing his arm and snuggling close. Carlos kissed her lightly and mentally vowed to keep her mind off the mechanics of flying.

It was a five minute ride to Miami International Airport. They drew up to a separate hanger, far from the hustle and bustle of the commercial terminals. Then she saw the jet; it was all black. Carlos helped her in and sat with her on the comfy sofa. Tank and Les sat across from them. As the jet picked up speed and took off, Steph held onto Carlos tightly. He was kissing her deeply, distracting her during the smooth transition. She sighed and laid her head on his chest. Carlos had his arm around his Babe, and just held her. The hour flew by and landed safely at Tampa International Airport, taxiing over to the hangers for private aircraft. They got into another limo and the ride to the restaurant was only six minutes.

The limo stopped at the front door of the restaurant as Carlos helped Steph out and took her hand. They walked up to the Host and they followed him upstairs to the Waterfront Room. They were seated next to the window so Steph could admire the view. They both chose Dom Perginon, France to drink.

"Why are we the only ones here?" asked Steph looking around.

"I reserved it so we can be alone."

"So romantic and it's so beautiful."

"You're more beautiful," said Carlos kissing her.

When the waiter came back, Steph chose the 8oz Filet Mignon and Steph was surprised that Carlos ordered the same.

"We'll work it off later," he grinned.

When their food arrived a few minutes later, Steph's mouth watered. She moaned at the first bite.

"I never forgot that," Carlos admitted to her.

When Steph was done with her meal, she chose Classic New York Style Cheesecake. Carlos had an Espresso. Twenty minutes later, Carlos paid the bill and picked up two large bags of food for Tank and Lester to eat on the flight home. Steph loved the smiles and thanks they received from the two hungry bodyguards. The limo drove them all back to the airport. Lester and Tank dove into the food as soon as they were settled into their seats. Steph giggled and was so amused watching those two inhale the delicious food that she forgot to be afraid during takeoff or landing. When they got back to the mansion and onto the elevator, Steph kissed him deeply.

"That's for a lovely night," said Steph smiling.

"It's not over yet," Carlos said, returning her smile.

When they got in the room, they quickly took off their clothes and made love all night.

The next morning, Steph woke up with Carlos still in bed. She looked at him and touched his face. He woke up and smiled.

"What are you still doing in bed?"

"We both had our workout last night and all throughout the night. I think I deserve to sleep in."

"Well, maybe we could stay in bed all day."

"Not all day. Maybe another hour."

"One more hour of this?" Steph asked as she got on top of him.

An hour later, they showered and went downstairs for breakfast. When they were eating their breakfast, Carlos' phone rang.

"Hi Carlos, It's Reed."

"Hi Reed, how are you?"

"Very well thank you. I wanted to let you know that hwe have a court date tomorrow. This will be private, no jury, Change of Plea Hearing. Since these crimes are all felonies, sentencing would usually take at a Sentencing Hearing 2 months out, after the judge evaluated detailed documentation on the defendant's background and past convictions, etc. This lengthy document is prepared by the Probation Department and is called A Pre Sentence Investigation or PSI. In this case, however, Ava's PSI was supplied to the judge yesterday, so the sentencing will take place today as well.

"Ok, when will the Change of Pleas Hearing be?"

"Tomorrow at ten."

"Ok great. We'll be there. See you tomorrow," said Carlos hanging up.

"What's going on?" asked Steph.

"We're going to a private Change of Plea Hearing, just the judge, no jurors. Just us, Reed and the Colonel and Ava and her lawyer."

"That's different. What if something goes wrong?"

"Nothing will go wrong. Keep an open mind and positive thoughts." Carlos punctuated that statement with a kiss on her adorable nose.

The next day, Steph was nervous. She put on a red blouse with white pants. Carlos wore black dress pants and a white dress shirt. Tank drove them to the court house in an armored SUV as Steph held on to Carlos' hand tightly. They met Cole, Reed and the Colonel outside the door of the assigned courtroom they were supposed to go into.

"Ava's lawyer isn't in yet. Probably hit traffic," said Reed.

Five minutes later, they were called in. When they walked in, Ava and her lawyer were seated and talking when Ava noticed Steph walk in.

"You!" Ava said standing up. "You're supposed to be dead!"

"Sit down Ava," said Vance.

She sat down not taking her eyes off Steph. Ten minutes later, the judge appeared and sat down.

"This is a case against Ava Johnson. From what I read here you are accused of eight felonies. You are here to change your pleas of not guilty on the original charges, and to enter your pleas on the newest charges."

"Ava Johnson, please stand up. How does your client plead, Mr. Vance?"

"Your Honor, Ava Johnson enters an Alford plea on the charge of murder in the first degress of Governor Orr. Ms. Johnson pleads guilty to lesser charges of solicitation of two murders, abuse of federal authority in ordering the hits, second-degree murder of the two Florida state bodyguards, and the misuse of federal property for personal gain

"The PSI on Ms. Johnson was mteiculously prepared and provided to this court to this hearing. I have read over these facts and have assessed a sentence for your client, Mr. Vance. Ms. Ava Johnson, you be remanded to the custody of the US Federal Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas, where you will remain, with no chance of parole, for the rest of your life. This case is closed." The gavel came down, echoing throughout the courtroom.

"This is insane! It's Carlos who should be going to prison not me! Colonel tell the judge..."

The judge nodded his head to the guards to take Ava away. The guards grabbed Ava and walked her out.

"You're so in trouble Carlos!" Ava yelled out as she was taken out the door.

"I'm glad that's over," said Steph. She stepped into Carlos' embrace.

"I told you it would be alright," said Carlos, as they all walked out. "We are going to celebrate!" said Carlos.

Steph hugged and kissed all the men who helped them get justice. Cole, Reed, and the Colonel each considered that payment enough from the blue-eyed beauty. Everyone went to their own vehicles to leave the Court House. Tank was waiting for Carlos and Steph. He could see the smiles that they both had and noticed that they couldn't drag their gazes away from each other.

"I'm thinking it all turned out well," Tank remarked, as they reached the Rangeman armored SUV. No one was taking chances today.

"Couldn't be better. Let's go to Hoy Como Ayer. We have some celebrating to do," replied Carlos.

The couple sat in the backseat, cuddling and murmuring between the two of them. Oh yeah, they are so good together! thought Tank.

Chapter 12

When Steph woke up the next day, her head was pounding. She just remembered they celebrated the case against Ava. She drank too much. She needed The Cure and fast. She shook Carlos. She found him with his head under the pillow.

"Carlos, wake up."

He stirred and removed the pillow from his head.

"What's the matter? Ohhh, my head," Carlos said, covering his eyes.

"We celebrated hard last night."

"Yeah, seems we did."

"What I need is The Cure so bad."

"What is The Cure?"

"A Coke and fries. Preferably from McDonald's."

"Does that actually work?"

"Yes it does."

"I'll have Tank or Lester get it," Carlos said, pushing a button on the intercom beside the bed.

"Can Tank or Lester go to McDonald's and pick up fries and a Coke for Steph?"

"You guys ok? Suffering from a hangover?" asked Lester laughing.

"Bite me, Lester!" yelled Steph. "Oooowww! Shit!" she whispered. Lester laughed even more.

"Just go get it and bring me coffee when you get back!" Carlos growled.

"Ok Boss, don't get huffy."

"What do you do to get rid of a hangover?" asked Steph.

"Just coffee," Carlos said kissing her.

Half hour later, there was a knock and Carlos walked slowly to the door. When he opened it, Ella came in with a cart.

"Here is your McDonald's and coffee and bagel and a couple of Ibuprofen for Carlos."

"Nothing to eat for me," said Carlos.

"Thanks," said Steph.

Steph dug right in as Carlos sat next to her on the bed and drank his coffee and watched her eat.

"Mmmm, I'm going to feel much better soon."

"When did you discover that Coke and fries cures you from a hangover?"

"After Mary Lou and I graduated from high school, we went to a friend's house and partied and we partied hard. We had the worst hangover ever. One of the girls I went to school with said, McDonald's fries and Coke is the cure for a hangover. We tried it and it works."

"How are you feeling now?"

"A little better. Is the coffee making you feel better?"

"Not one hundred percent, but I'll get there."

"Where did we go last night?" asked Steph.

"I'm not sure. Tank will probably know."

They both showered and they almost felt normal. Together they went downstairs to the control room and found the guys.

"Hey, it's the two party people! How are you guys feeling?" asked Tank

"I'm better, thanks to The Cure. He's still got bit of a headache. Where did we go last night?"

"Hoy Como Ayer. You guys were dancing and drinking. We took videos of you guys dancing to the Tango, Bachata, Cha Cha and the Merengue. The spotlight was on you guys the whole time." said Tank.

"What time did we leave?" asked Steph.

"Around 3 a.m. We practically had to drag you guys out of there," said Lester.

Tank found the video and handed the phone to Carlos as they watched themselves dance.

"Wow. I guess we really stole the spotlight," said Steph.

"We needed to celebrate. Ava is in prison where she can't hurt anyone," said Carlos. "Well. I hate to break this party up, but, get back to work."

"Glad you're feeling better guys," said Lester.

"So, what should we do now that Ava is in the slammer?" asked Steph.

"Come with me," said Carlos taking her hand, leading her to his office and closing the door. He sat on the edge of his desk and gathered her to him with his hands around her waist.

"Now that Ava is out of our lives, we can focus on us. Do you want to get married? We can still live here or we can move somewhere else..."

"Yes I will marry you and no I don't want to move anywhere else. I love this place. It feels like I have a family here."

"Yup, we're all one happy family here. Great, then I'm going to call the Colonel and tell him I'm done with my contract," Carlos said, picking up his phone. The call picked up on the second ring.

"Hi Colonel, it's Carlos."

"Hey Carlos, what can I do for you?"

"I wanted to talk to you about my contract. I want to end it"

"Ok, come to the Motel 6 and we'll talk about it."

"Ok. I'll be there in a few minutes," Carlos hanging up. "I'm going to the hotel. I'll be back in an hour."

"Good luck," she said kissing him.

Twenty minutes later, Carlos arrived at the hotel. He knocked and the Colonel answered right away.

"Carlos, come in and we'll talk about your contract," said the Colonel.

As Carlos walked in, Ava hit him in the head and he fell to the floor.

"That's for hitting me in the head," said Ava.

"Tie him up. We'll go to that warehouse you mentioned."

"No. I'm going and you're dead," said Ava, shooting the Colonel in the forehead.

Ave tied Carlos and dragged him out to the van and put him in the back.

"Where could he be?" Steph asked.

"He probably has a lot to say to the Colonel. Give him another hour and then call," said Tank.

When the hour was up, Steph called Carlos. It kept on ringing.

"Tank, I sense something wrong. We better go find out what's going on."

"Alright, let's go."

When they arrived at Motel 6, Steph walked to room 3. She opened the door to find the Colonel on the floor. Tank checked for a pulse.

"He's dead."

Stephanie noticed a phone on the floor beside the bed.

"This is Carlos', but where is Carlos?"

Just then, his phone rang. Steph didn't recognize the number so she put it on Speaker for Tank to hear.

"Hello?"

"Hello Stephanie."

"Uhmm, Ava?"

"You're probably wondering where your boyfriend is."

"Yes I am."

"He's safe here with me."

"What do you want?"

"You of course. You come to Warehouse Fulfillment in Miami and we'll talk. Come alone," said Ava, hanging up.

"I'm calling backup and don't worry, we'll be hidden."

"Thanks, Tank. And I'm going in fully 'dressed'. She didn't say I couldn't be armed and wearing Kevlar vest!"

"Smart thinking, Steph."

Chapter 13

Tank parked the Escalade two streets down from the warehouse. He handed Steph a mic, which she taped underneath her breast.

"We'll be listening to everything that you say. We'll invade at the appropriate time. Good luck," said Tank.

Steph got out of the Escalade and walked to the warehouse. She opened the door to find the lights already on.

"Hello?"

"Come to the back of the warehouse."

Steph quickly walked to the back and when she got there, she found Carlos tied to a chair and duct tape covering his mouth. From what Ava appeared to be doing, it looked like she was cleaning her gun.

"Stephanie, so glad you could join the party."

Steph noticed that Carlos appeared to be uninjured.

"What is it you want Ava?"

"To kill you, which I should've done at your house, but I got hit in the head by this joker. Now Carlos is going to watch you die."

"How did you get out of jail?"

"Easy. The Colonel owed me, big time, because I did him many favors as Shadoe. He sprung me before they could lock me up by showing up with orders from Homeland Security. Everybody's afraid of them, so they handed me over immediately."

"Then why did you kill the Colonel? That doesn't make sense."

"He was no use to me anymore. He was only good for springing me out of jail and bringing Carlos to the motel. Plus, he never spoke up in court. You'd think he would get me off, but no, he just sat there. It pissed me off!"

"Am I supposed to feel sorry for you? Why the hell do you want to kill me?"

"I'm going to kill you because Carlos loves you. He and I made a perfect couple, but it turned out he was just using me as an easy lay. The big prick that he is, he dumped me right after he fucked me, the night your husband was killed. I still can't believe he did that. But now he'll pay. He will die right after you. Now, you just shut up!" she yelled. "You stay still so I can kill you dead," she said aiming the gun at Steph's chest. While Steph had been distracting Ava, Carlos had loosened the cable ties and got his hands free and then he untied his legs. He saw Ava was about to shoot Steph when he shoved her down on the ground and landed on top of her.

"Oh Carlos. I prayed that we would be in this position again, but not like this."

He grabbed for the gun and tried to pry it out of her hands. She pulled the trigger and shot him in the shoulder and rolled off her.

"I was always good at that. Now I want to finish what I started, I want you to watch Steph die," said Ava turning.

Steph tried to find somewhere to hide, but couldn't. Steph moved into a corner and was trapped.

"Say goodbye to Carlos."

Steph closed her eyes and then heard a silenced gunshot and then something drop. She opened her eyes to find Ava on the ground. She walked closely to see that she two bullet holes on the forehead. Steph saw Tank and Lester come running.

"Cool! We timed those shots so close together it sounded like it was one instead of two. I couldn't stand that bitch!" said Lester, as he holstered his weapon in his back waistband.

Steph let out a breath and ran over to Carlos. His shoulder was bleeding badly.

"I've got to get you to a hospital!" said Steph, frantically.

"It's alright, it went through."

"That doesn't console me, my love."

Steph helped Carlos up as what seemed like every cop in Miami had poured into the warehouse. Tank had alerted them to what was going down, and they had shown up quietly, as Tank had requested. Their cue to move in was communicated via comm-link by Tank once he and Lester had cleared the warehouse.

Everything was explained to the cops as Bobby tended to Carlos' wounds. The bullet went through, nothing was seriously hit. Cole had come in leading the Miami PD. He made his way to Steph immediately, and took both her hands in his.

"Are you OK, Steph?

Tank told the officers that they had to go to Motel 6, Room 3, to collect the Colonel's body. Since the entire conversation with Ava was taped at Rangeman, the Miami PD was handed an open-and-shut, albeit convoluted, case. After an hour and a half, Carlos, Steph and the guys went back to the mansion.

"Are you sure you're alright, Carlos?"

"Yes, I am. I'm just glad that bitch got what she deserved and we can get our lives back."

"Amen to that," said Steph, kissing him.

Steph spent the next few months dealing with mostly estate issues. She told the executor of Dickie's will that he should sell the old family home that had been their Miami getaway home. She hired two of Carlos' sisters who had an organizing and downsizing company, to assist with the estate liquidation. They made the whole process as painless as possible for Steph and she couldn't be happier with their work. The first few days, they did a quick sort and Steph showed them what she wanted to keep. She was able to leave the rest for them to deal with, as they knew what would sell well and what should just be donated or tossed out.

Steph was pretty sure that the Orr family probably had some secure hiding places in the structure after so many generations had lived there. She talked it over with Carlos and he agreed that his men would LOVE the chance to go hunting treasure one afternoon in exchange for a cookout and night at the pool and hot tub there. So Steph made it happen. Ella and Luis were invited as well as Carlos' sisters.

As it turned out, all kinds of things turned up. Everything imaginable was found, from little kid precious possessions to the contents of several safes hidden in walls and floorboards. The guys made quick work of opening the locked safes. The process of breaking into each one was timed with lots of hooting and laughter, challenging the next safecracker. Inside of one, there were keys and locations of safe deposit boxes which she would have to have the executor gain access to as she knew she wasn't a signed keyholder on any of them. The safes also held stock certificates, old Silver Certificate US currency, some old jewelry, keys and Certificates of Title to a giant warehouse of antique and obscenely expensive sports cars, which the guys drooled over, and even keys and title to a yacht, moored at an exclusive Miami Beach yacht club.

But the most fascinating find was uncovered by Steph, herself. She was scouring the basement. Somehow she just knew that there was something else down there, but was coming up blank. She stood quietly and closed her eyes, slowing her breathing. Suddenly, a scene appeared in her head of men and women dressed in antique clothing, mingling and laughing. Steph gasped, and the vision disappeared. It had seemed so real, that it spooked her. But she turned around, slowly with her arm outstretched and stopped at one spot. She walked over to a seemingly solid wall. She felt along it and got nothing. Then she started tapping the wall. One section sounded hollow. Steph concentrated on that area and finally found a hidden lever. Now she felt creeped out, and wanted the guys down in the basement with her so she called out to them. They fought with each other to get down the steps, just like big kids. Steph smiled at them as she told them what happened so far. They all stared at her, some amused, some skeptical, but Carlos put his arm around her and pulled her to him.

"Proud of you, Babe," he told her and she lit up. Steph then showed the guys where the lever was and asked them to take her flashlight and get ready as she pulled on it to release the latch. Carlos drew his gun, too, just to be prepared for any trouble. The latch unlocked a hidden panel that swung slowly into the basement. Carlos and Lester, the flashlight holder, went first. Lester found a light switch and pushed in the upper button on the old style switch. The overhead lights obeyed the command, revealing the secrets of the room. There was only one explanation possible: the Orr family ran a Speakeasy in their basement during Prohibition! That fit the vision that Steph had. In this room, she could picture all the men and women in their 1920s garb, drinking whatever alcohol was available, in the safety of this place. Prohibition lasted from 1920-1933, so this room probably saw quite a bit of use, especially by the wealthy scions of Miami society. There was a tunnel that led to an outside entrance inside the large, detached garage. How convenient for the visitors!

Steph called out to Carlos' sisters to come down and see this. They absolutely went nuts when they saw it. They were spewing out ideas of what to do with the contents, or whether to leave it as is, when Steph interrupted.

"I think I'd like to call the Dade County Historical Society to come see this and give us their ideas as well. We could do a wine and beer night with finger foods, for them to experience the ambiance. That's sure to generate some very creative thoughts! Plus, I can give them a tour of the house before it goes on the market officially."

"I'll rent '20s flapper dresses for us and have you guys dressed in suits from that era as well, and we'll be in here as they come. And we'll have a couple of guys directing parking and escorting our guests to the Speakeasy. That will be very effective. I'm sure the executor could suggest some influential realtors to invite for a first look as well. Depending on the feedback they give and how we feel about their style, we can quickly make a decision as to who will get the listing."

Everyone stared at Steph in amazement.

"That's a brilliant idea, Steph," the sisters agreed. "You can really see the experience you have had entertaining at the top levels and knowing how a social gathering can be vital to your goals. Plus it sounds like a lot of fun!"

Most of the guys just stood there grinning. Carlos moved to cup his Babe's face and told her how incredible she was, followed by an affirming kiss. She beamed and thanked everyone.

"Hey, isn't it time for our cookout and pool party tonight?" she asked the group and that elicited whoops and hollering as they moved noisily upstairs to celebrate.

As they emptied the home and readied it to show, Steph made sure to have a new hardwood floor installed in the master bedroom, where Dickie had met his demise. The former wall-to-wall carpet from that room was thrown out. Then she did some minor upgrades to the bathrooms and the kitchen, to make the older home appeal to more buyers. She was careful to remain true to the era in which it was built and was able to disguise the modern conveniences with period looks.

The Speakeasy and Tour were a wild success! Steph had to hire a caterer and a private valet service to handle the ever-growing crowd that had been invited. Securing an invitation to the Event was every bit as much of a social coup as it would have been back in the '20s. And many people came in period dress driving period cars, just for fun. Downton Abbey apparently had many fans in Miami just itching for a chance to be a part of this. Steph made sure there was press coverage by a select group and she and Carlos' delighted sisters handled running small tour groups around the home after Steph's opening welcome speech. The Rangeman guys looked adorably handsome in their suits she thought. The suits were specially designed to hide their hardware. They mostly mingled with the guests, providing unobtrusive security and were all wearing comm-links to talk to each other. Luckily, there were no serious security issues. The Rangemen even called cabs for the more inebriated guests to reach home safely.

The old mansion was put on the market the next day at an aggressive price point and was sold the same day. The Buyer was a wealthy member of the Dade County Historical Society who wanted to regularly open the Speakeasy and the home to the public and maybe occasionally rent out the place for 1920s-style gatherings.

The executor contacted Steph a week later to arrange a meeting to inform her of the contents of all five safe deposit boxes. He was so delighted with her finding all these hidden treasures, as she made his job so much easier. He had no doubt that between herself and the Rangemen, they had unearthed everything possible in the homestead. Carlos accompanied his Babe as she was too nervous to go alone. The executor told Steph to stop at any point to explain anything she wasn't clear on. She held on to Carlos' hand like it was a lifeline. He put an arm around her and hugged her close to him in support.

One safe deposit box contained keys and deeds to US and international properties, including a whole Caribbean island, a winery in Tuscany, Italy and a mountain retreat in Idaho with a stable full of thoroughbred riding horses. The second one had a large collection of gems, precious and semi-precious stones that had not yet been cut to set in any jewelry settings. A third revealed a stack of documents that specified her holdings in a variety of businesses, ranging from small companies just getting started in the last 5 years to large private companies across the country. She was now also the major sponsor of a Formula One racing driver! Steph couldn't believe the immense wealth that had been in the Orrs' control. Dickie never said a word about it, other than forcing her to sign a prenup. Seems like he spent his life avoiding taking any responsibility. Steph had always been the genius behind the politician, and it now appeared that his family had done all the 'heavy lifting' for him before they were married. That explained a lot.

It was the last two large safe deposit boxes' contents that had her head reeling, with black dots in her vision, feeling very faint. Each one was stuffed FULL of pictures, ledgers, logs, diaries, thumbdrives, and even data CDs with what appeared to be incriminating evidence on many prominent Florida families and also some Congess members in D.C. Carlos held up his hand to stop the executor for a moment, seeing his Babe's reaction. He helped Steph to put her head down between her knees and try to push back up on his strong hand holding her down. Soon, the faintness passed and Steph was able to continue.

Steph herself didn't want to look at any of it, but she knew that she had to have someone she trusted go through it all. Her concerns were mainly in the realm of Homeland Security issues. Carlos volunteered to go through it all himself, and he admonished both Steph and the executor not to breathe a word of the existence of the evidence to anyone, as it may put their lives in jeopardy. They both agreed immediately, so glad to have an expert in security like Carlos to depend on for this task. He had contacts in many branches of the government in Washington, D.C. as well as in the state of Florida. His instructions were for them to forget that it had been turned up at all. Steph took a deep breath, thanking Carlos with a kiss.

The executor told Steph that in addition to the $7.3 million she would be getting from the old mansion, she would soon receive $33 million in cash. He was still working out the value of all of the 9 other properties, 46 cars, old jewelry and gemstones, $350,000 in Silver Certificate cash, and the $1.2 million yacht. He also would meet up with her in about a month to go over the companies she was invested in, some to operate at a loss for tax purposes. And he promised to set up a face-to-face meeting with her sponsored Formula One racing driver and his pit crew, based in the Miami area.

"He's a good looking fellow, Steph. And he's single, too," he said, winking at her. Suddenly there was a low growl emanating from Carlos. She grabbed his hand, kissed it and rubbed her face on it softly, settling him down again. Everyone got up and shook hands, promising to keep in touch.

Steph talked over an idea she had with Carlos that night. She wanted to take her half of the $1 million reward money for capturing Ava and split it between the widows and children of the two bodyguards who had been killed by Ava. They could set aside some for college and use the rest to take care of their families. Carlos reached over and cupped her face with his large hands.

"Babe, you never disappoint," he said, giving her a kiss that left her breathless.

Steph's next project was to meet with an architect to design a new, much larger Beach House to replace her burned-out home. She wanted at least six bedrooms besides the Master Bedroom. Each bedroom would have it's own full bath with another full bath containing a semi-private outdoor shower at the back of the house. It had to have an extra-large hot tub, a fully-equipped outdoor kitchen and seating area for at least 15 people. It would have a huge, entertaining, indoor kitchen with an open floor plan to a great room with an enormous flat-screen TV, pool table, poker table, and a well-appointed gym that overlooked the beach for scenic inspiration. This getaway house would have the very latest technology for security as well. Steph wanted all the guys at Rangeman to make themselves at home there anytime. The new Beach House would be ready to occupy in about four months.

Six months later, Steph and Carlos got married at the Rangeman mansion. Since Steph didn't have a family, her parents having died in a car accident years ago, Luis, Ella's husband, walked her down the aisle. Ella was matron of honor. After a lovely ceremony followed by an epic kiss, they all had dinner and danced.

"So, what do you think of our happily ever after?" asked Carlos.

"I so love it," said Steph smiling and they kissed deeply. The two newlyweds snuck out of the festivities and took the elevator to their private quarters upstairs.

Carlos carried her over the threshold. He set her down and they kissed, their tongues dancing, causing them both to be short of breath. He unzipped her dress and it pooled to the floor. She unzipped his pants and took off his shirt. She felt his hardness against her. His 'soldier' was standing at attention. She ran her hand down its length and sank down to her knees. She licked the tip and then opened her lips to surround him and sucked him in a rhythm that she knew he loved. She heard Carlos moan as he combed his fingers through her curly, sexy hair. Dios, she's mine, forever, thought Carlos as he brought her up and laid her down on the bed. He got on top of her and eased himself inside her. So wet and so mine! He moved slowly as he caressed her breasts, pebbling her nipples. He enjoyed the feeling of being inside her, how she fit him so perfectly. He kissed her neck, nibbling and marking her as his, as she stroked his neck, back and ass. She moved her right leg around his. She rolled him over onto his back, without losing their connection. She Steph leaned over and kissed him deeply as she slowly moved, tiny erotic sighs leaving her throat each time he filled her. She slid her fingers through his soft, long hair as he held her eyes, touching her hair and back.

"You feel so good," said Steph, smiling.

"So do you. So warm, so soft," Carlos said.

"I love you, Carlos."

"I love you, Babe."

She sat up as she starting feeling the sensation building. She caressed his smooth, muscled chest as they softly moaned to the music of their mating. They both felt the swirling tension tighten, getting stronger and they shouted each other's names, plunging into pleasure together. She collapsed on top of him, as they both got their breathing under control. She lifted herself off him and laid beside him. She put her head on his chest and her hand over his heart and he covered it with his.

"That was magical," sighed Steph.

"Yes it was. It will just keep getting better and better," Carlos said, using his other hand to brush her arm back and forth. Steph smiled as she fell into a wondrous sleep, knowing that tomorrow they would leave on a month-long honeymoon on board their yacht. Their first stop would be the Caribbean island that she owns. I am so lucky to have this extraordinary man as mine, for always.

What Steph didn't know yet was that Carlos had the name on the back of yacht changed and painted on. She was now called 'Babe'. So appropriate, thought Carlos. This trip is the first of many we'll enjoy together. I'm so lucky to have my Babe, to go hand-in-hand with through the many experiences ahead of us. Dios, thank you for this precious gift. And Carlos drifted off into the most peaceful sleep of his life.