Standard disclaimer thingy: I don't nor ever will own JE's characters. Snake is all Lois's purely for Kappy's benefit, but Evil Mystery Man, Crash, Sonni, Brae and Ant are all mine.

Light and Shadows

Chapter 3

Thursday passed in a blur of motion as I finalized the details for Friday night and tried to keep up with my training. I still had the feeling someone was following me and dumb ol' me still hadn't asked the Merry Men about it.

I managed to tell everyone about Live Wire and some of my friends asked to invite their partners to join them. A very interesting conversation I had was with one of my old college friends.

I saw Rhiana at the supermarkets a couple of weeks before and, while we were waiting in queue, had caught up on events.

"So, what are you doing with yourself now, Steph? Did you open that video store yet?"

I laughed. "No, it never happened. Instead I worked at E&E Martin, selling lingerie, 'til they laid me off. Now, I'm a fugitive apprehension agent."

Rhiana's brown eyes widened slightly before she gave a small laugh. "Oh, that's right. You're a famous bounty hunter, now. I'd forgotten totally! So," she leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, "what are the men like?"

I did a Burg eye roll my mother would have been proud of. Ten years and Rhiana hadn't changed in the slightest; she is still as hormonally controlled as I am. Phew!

"Well, Rhi, instead of telling you, how about I show you sometime?"

There was a split second's silence before I thought I was going to become deaf in one ear. "Would you really? That would be- You're not kidding? Oh, sweetie… YES!" She squealed into my ear as she gave me a bear hug and started jumping up and down. We traded cell numbers and I promised to call her about my offer. Friday night seemed like it would be a good time.

"Murchison speaking," the voice said on the other end of the phone.

"Rhiana, it's Steph. What's hanging?"

"Hey Steph. Not much honey, just put the last of the kids down or their naps. What's up?"

"Well, you remember my offer I mad-"

"How could I not? Ooops, sorry sweetie."

I chuckled. "Are you free for some introductions tomorrow night?"

I held my phone away from my ear as I heard her 'squee!' on the other end. "Rhiana? Rhiana? Rhiana Rae!" The squeeing stopped.

"Rhiana, I'm having some birthday drinks at the Live Wire tomorrow night. Some of the other girls are going to try and come too. Should I count you in?"

"Are you nuts? Of course you should Steph! What time does it start?"

"Round 8-ish. Oh, and don't worry about driving home, taxi's have been organised for everyone." I could just imagine the look on her face after that comment. Her response confirmed it.

"Bring it on, girlfriend! I'll see you there."

"See ya, Rhiana," I said before hanging up.

Friday morning dawned while I was fast asleep. I have never been good at rising early, and as I get older, I hope to God it doesn't start to change.

My alarm clock went off at 8:30 am, causing me to fall off the bed trying to turn the ruddy thing off. I poured myself into my exercise gear. I'd pleaded and whinged and whined at Lester and the boys until they'd agreed to move my daily workout forward. I'd based my argument around the fact that if I left it too late, I'd end up arriving at the club with scary hair. None of them wanted (or tried) to fight me on that.

So, a couple of hours later I stumbled back to my car, covered with sweat and hair all over the place. I drove home as fast as possible, stopping only to pick up some Cluck in a Bucket, with extra biscuits for Rex.

I parked by the dumpster in my parking lot and hauled ass to the elevator, my arms full with my food. Old Mrs Bestler stood just inside the elevator and pressed the 3rd floor button as I stepped in, saying, "Third floor, Ladies Fashion and Beauty Parlour." Thanks, you old bag. I already know I look like shit; I don't need other people to tell me, too.

I quietly approached my door once the elevator had reached my floor. I had actually learned something! Well, I guess that's not entirely true. I didn't particularly want any bad/dead guys to be waiting for me, tonight of all nights. So I put the bags of food down and drew my gun. I unlocked the door and pushed it open quickly, flattening my self against the wall. Nothing. I peered around the door and, to my delight, my apartment was blissfully nasty-surprise free.

I picked the food bags up and hustled to the kitchen counter, dropping everything on it. I rummaged around and found a piece of biscuit for Rex, being the dutiful hamster mummy I sometimes remember to be. I scarfed down a piece (ok, ok… a couple of pieces) of chicken before I made my way to the bathroom and peeled of my sweaty layers.

I locked the bathroom door and put on a CD of classical music. I'm not really a fan of listening to classical, especially when I'm driving or on a stakeout, but when I have a chance to really relax in the bathtub, it's not too bad. I lathered up my hair and rinsed a couple of times to wash out all the sweat and gunpowder and then started on my body.

When Ranger was still in Trenton, I had become addicted to the smell of Bvlgari shower gel; so much so, that Ella bought me some as a little present for surviving the Slayer mess. Once he'd left, though, every time I smelled it I would become all depressed and moody, so Lula and Connie bought me some different smelling stuff. Now, I only used Miracle scented shower gel, by Lancôme. It smelled like heaven. Even Grandma Mazur liked it.

I went through the motions, shaving everything I deemed necessary and a few that could be counted as optional extras. It was so relaxing that I didn't get out until I was extra-pruney. I slathered moisturizer all over me and wrapped myself up in my trusty fluffy bathrobe before trudging to my bedroom.

I went to my dresser and picked out a bottle of deep red nail polish for my fingers and toes. Sitting on my bed with the Cluck in a Bucket next to me, I gave myself a manicure and pedicure, considering I had time to spare. After, I flopped on my back after I had finished, giving the nail polish a chance to dry without me smudging it.

The next thing I remember is a loud banging on my front door, dragging me from nap. I trudged over to door, ready to snarl at the person on the other side of the door. It was Mary Lou.

"Steph, why haven't you been answering your phone? I've been trying to call you for hours. And why aren't you ready yet? Have you decided not to come to your own party?" I looked at the clock, it was 6:45. Uh oh. I raced into the bathroom to do my hair with Lou hot on my heels. Being so absorbed in what I was doing, I didn't hear much of what Lou said as she nattered on behind me, doing bits and pieces to help me finish getting ready.

"Lenny said to call when we're ready and he'll drive us over."

"Ok, sounds cool. I'm nearly finished with my hair, hang on a minute…" I had dunked my head under the tap, since my bath was hours before and the only time my hair is remotely manageable is when it's wet. I slathered de-frizzing gunk all over it and attacked it with a hair dryer. By the time I had finished, my hair fell in its natural waves – without the medusa-like frizz. Now for makeup. My eyes were rimmed with a dark grey kohl pencil and I used a dark burgundy eyeshadow. My lips were covered in a dark red lipstick, with the end result of my makeup looking very dramatic. As a final touch I put on a couple of coats of mascara and some earrings on, and dumped the mascara and lipstick tubes in my bag.

I grabbed my outfit off the hanger and dashed into the bathroom. Mary Lou was in the bedroom, still talking at a hundred miles an hour. You can tell she was trained in the Burg. I went back to my bedroom and heard silence. Mary Lou was gazing at my clothes with envy.

"Oh my God, Steph, that's so… Wow… You look hot!"

I laughed, "I know, Lou, that's why I bought it." I found my shoes and put them on before taking a look in the mirror. Something was missing – a belt. I knew just the one, too. It was a Christmas present that Connie and Lula had given me the year before. I'd thought it was ugly as hell and that I couldn't wear it with anything, but now was my chance. Once I found it I snatched up my bag from the bed, looked at Lou and said, "Let's roll."

We made it to the club early, so we went inside to find tables and wait for everyone else. People were already there. Some of what had to be the Merry Men had commandeered what appeared to be a whole corner of tables near the dance floor. I had to laugh. Of course I wouldn't be the first one to arrive, what was I thinking!

At the table I put my bag on were Snake, Lester and Bobby, along with a number of faces I'd never seen before. My boys each gave me a hug and kiss on the cheek hello and started the introductions.

"Sweet thing, these are some of the rookies I got to torture today," Lester said with a wink in my direction. "The blonde one is Crash, and this here is Sonni and Sonni's partner, Brae. This dropkick next to me here is my brother Antony." I nodded to each of them as Lester said their names but when it came to Antony, he took my hand and brushed a kiss across my knuckles.

"Please, call me Ant, and I'm honoured to make your acquaintance, cara," he said, gazing into my eyes. Before I could let my hormones get the better of me, Lester glared at Ant and growled from the back of his throat. I smiled briefly at Ant before turning to face Lester.

"Could you please get me a drink, Les? I'm going to say hi to the others." Lester nodded and smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. He went to the bar and ordered our drinks as I made my way across to where Tank and a woman in a baby pink top and black pants were sitting.

I thought they'd look up when someone approached them, but they were so engrossed in each other I had to clear my throat loudly to get their attention.

"Bomber!" Tank explained as he stood and almost crushed me in one of his trademark bear hugs. "Happy birthday, girl. You look great." I blushed. "I want you to meet Lois, my fiancée," he continued holding his hand out for the blonde woman who was sitting with him. She took his hand and stood. I had to work at keeping my mouth from dropping open. She was tiny! Tank dwarfed her, but it was plain that she had all the power in the relationship.

"It's nice to finally meet the woman who has this hunk of muscle wrapped around her pinky," I said to her, grinning. Tank just nodded in agreement, smiling sheepishly down at her.

"Thanks, it's great to meet you, too. All I ever hear is how this boy's white sista keeps surprising everyone. If you two weren't like family, I may have been worried…"

I laughed, before whispering to her, "Don't worry, Lois, he's smitten with you, you won't have any problems."

Lester came up behind me, putting one arm around my waist and holding my drink in front of me with the other. "Tank, Lois, great seeing you two again. Any date set yet?" he asked.

"March 31st," Tank replied, his eyes fixed on Lois. Their world suddenly seemed to encompass just the two of them again, so Les and continued through the group, saying hi to everyone.

A short while later, I heard an unearthly shriek. I looked up to see Pat racing towards us, with a couple of other ladies walking behind her trying not to drool at the sight of the men.

Pat engulfed me in a huge hug which was quite impressive given her size. She had on a red strapless dress, showing off tanned shoulders and bringing out the red flecks. I looked around and saw that while most of the men appreciated what she was wearing, a certain someone couldn't take his eyes off her. I mentally smiled. This was going to be fun!

"That looks even better on you than when you bought it, Steph!" she said. "Oh, I'll introduce you to my friends. Steph this is Jill, who's an accountant and Afton, who works as a fitness trainer. I went to college with both of them" she said loudly.

"Name's Lester Santos, ma'am. We work with Steph here."

"Please, call me Pat. And who are all these other people?"

Lester and I went through everyone there introducing everyone. When we got to Snake, I saw their eyes meet. I doubt Pat heard much after that. By the time we had finished the introductions, my throat was starting to get sore and I was wishing we had some 'Hi, my name is…' stickers. I took a few large mouthfuls of my Strawberry daiquiri and felt the ice slide down my throat. I must have moaned because Lester plucked the drink from my hand and set it down, leading me to a darkened alcove in the wall.

"You drive me wild and you don't even realise it, Sweet Thing," he murmured against my lips.

I don't know what possessed me to, mind you I'm not complaining, but I pushed Lester against the wall and began to kiss and nibble at the base of his neck. He let out a guttural sounding moan and grabbed my hips, pulling me towards him and making me feel his desire. "Steph," he breathed, "oh God, Steph." He lifted my face to his and looked in my eyes, his own smoldering with lust. His mouth came down on mine, almost bruisingly hard, and I could feel him pouring all his desperation and lust into the kiss.

Slightly dazed, I pulled back slightly to kiss him softly on the lips. "I s'pose we should be heading back," I murmured, resting my forehead on his cheek in an attempt to regain my breath. God could that man kiss. "We will finish this later," he whispered as he took one of my hands in his and lifted it to his mouth, placing feather-light kisses across the back of it. His free hand settled on my waist, guiding me back to the tables. I don't think I would have been able to make it on my own.

By the time we had returned, our party had grown. Connie was at the bar and Lula, who was accompanied by Bunchy, was talking to Mary Lou. All the Merry Men were all carefully avoiding Lula, except for some of the rookies, the seasoned Rangemen probably didn't want to be exposed by Lula again, or something like that.

I picked up my drink and took a sip before I felt a tap on my shoulder. Rhiana was standing behind me, with a huge grin on her face. I squealed and gave her a hug as I noticed some more of my college friends behind Rhiana, grinning like mad as well. Sheila, Heather, Suze and Rae. Obviously Rhiana had kept in touch better than I had. Sheila and her sister Heather had just started a coffee shop, Suze had taken the night off working as a photographer to come to Trenton, while Rae was making it big as a writer of steamy fiction novels. And this was just part of the BGGW. We had a big group hug and made our way around the group again for introductions, people passing me drink after drink as we went.

As I was finishing, Bobby came up to me and took my hand. "Wanna dance, Bomber?" he asked me. I'd had enough to drink that I was raring to dance, despite my complete inability. I followed behind Bobby, my eyes fixed firmly on his backside and trying not to drool too much. As we made our way in, we passed a number of couples; Bunchy and Lula; Tank and Lois; Jill and Crash and Snake and Pat

When we stopped, we were in the middle of the dance floor and all I could see were bodies bumping and grinding in time with the music. Bobby pulled me close and we started moving to the beat. As the music progressed I could feel Bobby slowly moving closer to me, until our bodies touched wherever possible, but I didn't mind it at all. I looped my arms around his neck and started moving my hips more, drawing a groan from him. "Bomber," Bobby groaned, "are you trying to torture me?"

I smiled slightly. "No," I replied. "But do you want me to?" Somewhere in my mind a little voice was screaming 'What are you doing woman? Are you nuts?' I mentally answered, 'No idea, and completely!'

"Bombshell, do you have to ask?" he growled. I took it for a yes. I leaned in and took his bottom lip in my mouth, suckling and biting softly. With another growl, he moved his hands from my hips and firmly grasped my ass, pulling tight against him. A warm flush started to pool in my belly as I felt him straining against his pants. I released his lip and he pounced on me. His tongue licked my lips, asking for entrance and I gave it freely as I moaned softly. It delved into my mouth and I tasted him, coke and bourbon, before our tongues started to duel.

My hands unclasped themselves from behind hi head, one splayed across his shoulder and the other resting on his chest. As I placed my hand on his chest, my thumb brushed one of his nipples, and he broke the kiss, gasping. I looked in his eyes and saw the lust simmering in them. He must have seen something too, because a second later, he was kissing me again, only this time it was more insistent, more demanding.

We were cut off by someone clearing their throat. Reluctantly we broke apart and looked over at Mary Lou, grinning madly like she had just been handed some juicy gossip. Well, I s'pose she had…

"Steph, the others want to do some toasts. C'mon" She took me by the elbow and guided me through the crowds back to the tables. Everyone looked over as we approached. Rhiana spoke up first.

"Ok, since it's nearly midnight, Steph's birthday is nearly over. So, Happy Birthday Steph and may all your wishes come true." Her voice was a tad slurred and when she started to sway on the spot, Ant stood behind her and held her steady. "To Steph, the birthday BGGW! Cheers," she yelled as everyone drank to the toast. Very few knew what a BGGW actually was but I think most people were too drunk to care. I know I was.

Next up was Lester. "When Steph first started bounty hunter-ing (see he'd drunk too much, too), none of us thought she'd last very long. Now, nearly four years later, she's one of the best in Trenton, she always gets her man. Or woman. Oh, fuck it, her F.A.T. Happy Birthday Sweet Thing, we love you." Everyone took another drink.

People started chatting or dancing again as I decided aloud to go to the bathroom. My bladder had suddenly decided that it didn't want to be full any longer. Since I was still being held upright by Mary Lou, she helped me make my way to the 'Ladies' sign. We eventually made our way back to the tables, where I sat down and sprawled myself all over a table. I think I was beyond drunk, but my brain didn't want to work anymore so I couldn't tell.

"Come on, darlin'," someone said to me, placing a large hand on my shoulder. "Let's see about getting you home." I looked up to see a flash of worry on Lester's face and nodded. He picked up my bag and helped me stand, putting his spare arm around my waist. "Byes," I slurred at him. "Say byes."

Slowly we said good bye to everyone left at the tables and headed out of the club towards a taxi. We climbed in and Les gave the driver an address that seemed vaguely familiar. When the taxi stopped we were outside the Rangeman building. "Out you get, Sweet Thing. Let's put you to bed," was the last thing I remember as Les scooped me up in his arms and carried me inside.