Thank you all for the reviews. I'm glad the new readers are enjoying and that those of you reading this for a second (or more) time still like it. I'm making a few modifications to each chapter, but nothing major. So, without further hesitation, here is chapter 2.

My New Life
Time to Talk
SapphireJ

Lester, Bobby, and I sat in the Expedition for four hours doing surveillance work. Boring as hell let me tell you. But, I did get to learn a few things out while there. I guess they were in the Rangers together; along with a few other guys; Ram, Tank, Ranger, Hal, and Cal. Ranger is the "leader" and their boss. He also owns RangeMan and lives on the seventh floor of the building. The fourth floor is where most of the rest of them live. Lester said he'd give me a tour of the place soon. Ranger, is "in the wind". When I asked what that meant, they just said that he still does government jobs and he is currently unavailable.

Finally after the surveillance, we went back to the garage and dropped off Bobby. Lester had to take me back to the bonds office to get my car. When we got back to my car, I got out and walked over. Lester rolled down his window to talk, "Hey Steph, would you mind having dinner with me tonight? I like talking with you and honestly, I'm not ready to stop."

I thought about it and I decided I didn't want to stop talking with him either. "Why don't you follow me back to my place? I put dinner in the slow cooker this morning, and it should be done."

Lester thought about it for a minute and agreed, "I'll follow you." We made it back to my house and I let us in. I gave Lester the quick tour and we ended in the kitchen. I took out some plates, glasses, and silverware. Lester took them from me and set the table. "I hope you like lasagna." I forgot to tell him what I had made.

"I love lasagna. What else can I do to help?" We finished getting the table set, got drinks, and started to eat. We ate in comfortable silence and when we were done, Lester helped me load the dishes into the dishwasher. Wow, a man who isn't afraid to step into the kitchen and help!

We moved to the living room and sat down on opposite ends of the couch. Sitting Indian Style, I turned to face him.

"So, are you originally from Trenton?" Lester was running his fingers around the rim of his glass.

"Yes, born and raised. Got married, found him screwing a bitch on our dining room table before the ink was dried on our marriage license, divorced him, and moved to Arizona for four years." I figured he would have been asking about my life sooner or later, so I'd just get it out there.

"Well, I, for one, am glad you came back. I think we are going to get along wonderfully." He smiled at me and my heart melted. I love his smile.

"What about you? Are you from around here?" I figured if he was asking, I could as well.

"No. I was born and raised in Maine. I went into the Army at 18. After that I went to the Rangers and met most of the rest of the guys. Ranger and I are cousins and grew up together. When we got out, we all stuck with Ranger and he started RangeMan. Once he had the Miami office running, we moved here and started this one. He has two other offices, but most of us stayed at this one."

My phone rang and I really didn't want to answer it. I was fine letting it go to the answering machine, until I heard the voice. "Aaniin, One Shot." Shit, I need to take that. "Excuse me, Lester, I really need to take this call."

"Aaniin, Raven. How are you?" Raven was one of my brothers in Arizona.

"Am good. We miss you, but are glad you went home. I wanted to see how things were going."

"Things are well. I have company right now, Rave. Can I call you back later?" I really wanted to talk to him, but I didn't want to ignore Lester.

"Of course, although I expect full disclosure of whom he is and how you met him." I could hear Eagle and Panther laughing in the background. I should have known they were near.

"I will. Tell the others I said hi. I love you and I'll call later." I hung up and had a smile on my face.

I looked over at Lester and could see a little worry in his eyes, but he had a smile. "Boyfriend?"

"No, one of my three brothers from Arizona. They call every day to check on me."

Lester and I sat and talked until we realized it was two in the morning. We were both exhausted and I wasn't sure he'd make it back to his apartment without falling asleep. "Lester, why don't you stay here tonight? I have a spare bedroom that you can use."

"Are you sure, Steph? I think I can make it back to Haywood." He couldn't hide his yawn and his eyes were so heavy.

I pulled him up and showed him the spare bedroom. I made sure he had he had a new toothbrush and then I went to my bed. I was asleep before my head hit the pillow. I awoke the next morning to the smell of fresh brewed coffee. Slipping on my robe, I walked downstairs to the kitchen and saw Lester was there with a fresh cup waiting for me. 'Mmmm, thank you! You are a morning God!"

Lester quickly kissed me on my forehead and backed up. "Thanks for letting me crash here last night. I enjoyed dinner and had a wonderful time talking with you." He took a sip of his coffee and set his cup down. He put his hands on the counter on either side of me, effectively trapping me between him and the kitchen counter. Tensing up, I felt my heart rate increase. I couldn't look at him, so I looked down at the floor. He noticed and immediately moved his hands. "Steph, I'm sorry. I don't mean to make you uncomfortable. Please look at me."

I lifted my gaze and stared into his beautiful green eyes. "I'm sorry, Lester. I need to get ready for work. I'm sure you need to go get ready as well." I smiled, but my heart was still racing.

Lester nodded and headed towards the door. "I hope to see you later, Beautiful. Have a great day."

"Me too." I locked the door after he left and raced for my room. I hoped in the shower and let the tears fall. When will it get better? How much longer am I going to flinch and tense anytime someone tries to touch me? I hate this. The tears flowed freely and I stayed in the shower until the water was cold. Time to get ready for the day. Maybe I do need to talk to someone, maybe, just maybe, it will help. I reached for my phone and called the only person who I could talk to.

"Hello."

"Hey Mare. I need a friend."

Hearing that I'd been crying, she answered, "I'm on my way sweetie. Be there in ten."

OoOoOoOo

Ten minutes later, there was a knock at my door and Mary Lou walked in. She came over, gave me a hug, and just held me until I stopped crying. "Now, tell me what is going on. I've got all day, Len has the kids."

"Mare, I'm going to tell you what no one else knows. The reason I went to Arizona and what happened there. This is not to be repeated to anyone, okay?" I saw her nod her head. We both settled down on the couch for a long talk.

"Mare, after the divorce from Dickie, I went to see my mom. As usual, it was my fault that I had a failed marriage. I couldn't keep Dickie happy, so he had to step outside the marriage. I couldn't take my mother's bitching anymore. I didn't have a reason to stay here. I told my dad where I was going. I knew he had a few friends in Arizona that I could stay with. Once I got there, I felt free. Free of my mother's ranting. I was able to live my own life. I made a few friends and after about eight months there, I started dating a guy named Erik. Things were fine for a while. We were always out together, dinner, dancing, movies, etc."

"One night, Erik and I went to a bar with some friends. We had a wonderful night. We did a lot of dancing, had some awesome food and I had a few drinks. Erik drank a lot, but that was nothing unusual. After we closed the bar, we headed back to my place; he was going to drop me off. He walked me to my apartment and followed me in for a minute."

"He usually came in for a bottle of water. After he grabbed his water, he started kissing me. It was nice at first, but then it got rough. His hands were gripping me and hurting. I tried to tell him, but he wouldn't listen. He threw me against the wall and his body was pressed into me so much I could barely breathe."

"His hands were roaming my body; he was pinching, squeezing, anything he could and it hurt. I told him to stop, but again, he wouldn't listen. I slapped him but that only angered him. He threw me across the room and ripped my clothes off of me and proceeded to rape me. After he was done, he carried me into my bedroom, laid me on the bed and tied me up. I couldn't move, I couldn't scream; he had me gagged. All I could do was lay there and let him do what he wanted. He raped me two more times that night before he passed out."

"When he woke the next morning, he untied me and got himself dressed. He left like nothing happened. I couldn't believe what had happened. I got up and took a shower. I scrubbed myself as hard as I could. When I was done, I went to my kitchen and there was Erik's brother, Eagle."

"He said he'd just seen Erik and he didn't look normal, so he stopped by my place to see what had happened. He took one look at me and knew what had gone on. He said he could see the bruises on my face, so he looked at my arms and saw the marks from the rope. He reached out for me and I flinched. I had never flinched from him before."

"He called his best friends, Raven and Panther. They came over and talked to me. I refused to file charges because then everyone would know what happened and I would be the talk of the town, just like here. I couldn't take that. They took me to the reservation and said they wanted to help me. Eagle disowned Erik and wouldn't talk to him anymore. I stayed on the reservation for three years. They taught me how to protect myself. I know how to use a gun. Hell, I can hit my target each and every time, no matter what type of gun you give me. Same with knives."

I got up to get something to drink for us both. I was reliving part of my life I had tried for so long to get over. I knew that I needed to talk about this or my life would never be my own again. Sitting back down on the couch, I continued talking to Mare.

"Panther taught me some moves to take down an attacker. He put me in so many different positions and holds and told me I had to get out. It took a long time, but I finally was able to get myself out of any situation the guys threw at me. After a while, the guys started 'attacking' me in public. I never knew when they were going to try something, so I was always on alert."

"The first two times, I was spooked and they took me down, but after that I learned how to keep alert at all times. They never got me in a vehicle again. Raven was the one that worked with me the most on hand-to-hand training. Once I got to the point that I could take Raven down, they started throwing other people at me. Then they started in with two against one and three against one. I went through Hell and back, but I can finally take care of myself."

I took a deep breath, now was the part no one knew about. Well, one other person knew, but that was it.

"Mare, after the guys told me that there was nothing really left for them to teach me, that I needed to just keep practicing, I left the reservation. I knew it was time to come home, but before I could fully come home, I had to take care of one last thing."

"I went to Phoenix and found Erik. He wasn't expecting me; it had been three years. I found him at a bar and he was pretty much trashed. I went up to him and he looked like he had seen a ghost. The color all but drained from his body. I had dressed up with the expectation of leading him from the bar. I didn't need any witnesses. I sat down next to him and ordered a drink."

"His hand found its way to my thigh and I fought hard to keep from flinching. He leaned over and whispered in my ear 'Hey Sugar, looking for some more of my lovin?' I plastered a smile on my face and forced myself to kiss his cheek and whisper back that I needed him. He led me out the door of the bar and we walked to the back of the parking lot where his car was. He shoved me up against it and started to kiss me while his hands roamed. I could feel how hard he was and told him that I couldn't wait, I needed him then."

"He moved his hands to his pants and I reached down to my ankle. As he pulled himself out of his pants, I had my knife in my hand. He looked at my hands and started to laugh. 'Oh, you want to play rough, bitch? I can play rough.' He reached to pull my skirt up, but I was faster. I sliced his dick length wise with my knife."

"I know it was deep, there was blood everywhere. He fell down and started to scream. I left him. I turned around, calmly walked to my car and drove to the airport. I caught my flight and came home. I have no idea what happened to him or if he is alright."

I took another deep breath and looked at Mare's face. I saw nothing but love and compassion on her face. She wasn't judging me. I knew she wouldn't, I knew she was my best friend for a reason. She would have helped me hide the body if I needed her to.

"Steph. I… I don't know what to say. I'm sorry you were violated like that. I'm sorry I wasn't there." I started to say something, but she continued. "I'm really sorry I wasn't there to see his face when you sliced him. Damn, I would have given anything to see that." All the sudden she was rolling on the floor laughing and holding her sides. She had tears coming out she was laughing so hard. Finally, she got herself under control and gave me a hug. "I love you, Steph. It is great to have you back home."

Mare and I talked some more and caught up on each other's life. I told her about my new job and Lester and Bobby. I didn't tell her Lester stayed the night, she would have wanted details even though there were none. She left about five hours later and I was ready for a nap. I walked upstairs and crawled in bed, dead to the world. I'll go to work tomorrow.

tbc ~ more later this week.