Author's Note: You all are just wonderful! The reviews keep pouring in as do the story alerts and story favorites. That means so much to me to know that despite this story being sad and angsty, you still want to read it and you still enjoy it. Thank you so so much!

Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine... I am NOT making any money... Enjoy!

Chapter Seven
Kentucky Fires

She did it. She actually bought it. She bought a ticket to the Kentucky Derby. It was several hundred dollars and Steph felt almost guilty for buying it, but she wanted to discover new things and the Kentucky Derby was definitely something new. She was doing a lot of things that she had never done before. She went to New York City once she left Hershey. She had visited a lot of the expensive shops there, but she remained smart and didn't buy anything. She did however splurge on a ticket to the Broadway show, Wicked. She enjoyed it so much, but it made her a little sad when she had no one to share it with. She also bought a few souvenirs to remind her of her first ever Broadway show.

She then left New York City and headed to Vermont. She had to check out Ben & Jerry's. They gave her a tour and she got a free pint of ice cream. Well, she bought three and they gave her one. She was lucky her mini fridge had a small freezer. She stayed in Vermont for four days. She ate a pint every night. The first night at been Boston Crème Pie. She couldn't believe they had Boston Crème Pie! It was unbelievable delicious. The second night she had one called Chocolate Therapy. It was chocolate ice cream with chocolate cookies and swirls of chocolate pudding. She needed the chocolate because her second day in Vermont hadn't been a good one. She lost it when she pulled Ranger's blanket out of her car and it no longer smelled like Ranger. It made her sad.

Her third day in Vermont, she woke up feeling better and went window shopping. She bought a homeless man named Larry a pair of tennis shoes and some socks. She made him cry so she then bought him a pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, Cherry Garcia. She left him smiling and happy. Seeing the smile on his face made her happy. She went back to her hotel and ate the Triple Caramel Chunk. She loved caramel and that was so good. Her last day there she ate her Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. When she left Vermont, she was on a pure sugar high. She didn't stop again until she reached Kentucky. When she needed to sleep, she would pull over somewhere it was full of light and plenty of activity. No one bothered her.

She texted Tank every night along with her mother. She texted Lester the other night and he actually responded. He was doing good, but a little busy in the middle of something. She knew what that something was, but she didn't call him on it. She was just glad he was okay. She called Mary Lou, Valerie, and Lula the other night. They all missed her but were doing well. Her Grandmother was dating Henry exclusively and she was happy. Steph actually laughed while talking with her Grandmother. It had been a while since she laughed. It felt good.

Now she was going to the Derby to watch horse races. She had never been interested in watching horses race around a track, but no way was she going to be in Louisville, Kentucky and not go to the races. Now she needed a dress and a hat because the lady at the ticket place she talk to this morning told her that all respectable ladies wear hats to the Kentucky Derby. So she went shopping and bought this gorgeous turquoise dress that was full length and sleeveless. It was just perfect and she found this floppy hat that the sales girl said was perfect for the Derby. She even found matching shoes. It was perfect and she was excited to wear it to the horse races. In two days. She had two days to wait and to fill time.

She was tired of shopping because she didn't want to buy anything else and it wasn't much fun if she couldn't buy anything. She toured a museum yesterday and then early this morning she went to the local park where she actually ran a mile. She was out of breath and puking when she finished, but she finished. So after she went back to the hotel where she was staying, took a shower, and ate a peanut butter and olive sandwich, she called her mother.

"Hi Stephanie. Is everything okay? Are you having a good time?"

She smiled. "I'm having a good time, Mom. I bought a ticket to the Kentucky Derby yesterday."

"That's horse races, right?"

"Yeah Mom, I wanted to try something new."

"It sounds exciting."

"I'm calling because I have two days to wait and I'm kind of tired of shopping."

"Tired of shopping? I never thought I would hear those words from your mouth." Her mother replied with a chuckle.

"Well, it's just I don't want to spend too much money."

"Oh well I can understand that. How about volunteering?"

"Volunteering? You mean like I did at the dog rescue center?"

"Mmmm. But not just with animals. Homeless shelters need help all the time. Some cities even have places where they serve food. You could volunteer there."

"That's a good idea, Mom. Thanks."

And Steph meant it. She helped Jessica because she was in need, but it felt good to help. Maybe that was a little bit selfish, but she wasn't the only one to get something out of it so maybe being a little selfish was okay. So after she talked a few more minutes with her mother, she said good-bye and then found her way to the nearest homeless shelter.

An older lady was sitting behind a desk, writing up something. When she looked up and saw Steph, she sighed.

"I'm sorry, Sweetie, but we're out of room."

Steph gave her a smile. "I'm not looking for a place to stay. I was um… well I was wondering if I could help with anything. I mean I want to volunteer to help."

The woman sighed again. "I know the soup kitchen down on third needs all kind of help. Start there."

"Thanks."

Steph used her phone and GPS to figure out how to get to Third Street. She made it to Main Street before she had to stop. She stopped because she didn't have a choice. The middle of the street was taken over by two fire trucks, three ambulances, and a half of dozen of cop cars. Steph could easily make up out why the street had been taken over by Louisville's finest. A two story house had caught on fire, lighting up the sky with reddish-orange licks of flame and dark ugly smoke. Standing in the mist of all the police officers, fire-fighters, and paramedics were four people that looked lost and confused.

Steph's heart went out to them. A Latino family, the man in the group was the tallest, standing about Ranger's height. He was dressed in a suit that Steph could see was covered in soot. His wife, or at least the woman he had his arm around, was short, standing about five foot. She had long dark hair that was disheveled and she was wearing a t-shirt that almost reached her knees. Probably her husband's. That was all she was wearing. The other two were no more than five years old. The little boy was wearing a pair of a Disney movie, The Cars pajamas. He was probably four or five years old. The little girl was just adorable, her long dark hair was full of tangles and she was rubbing her eyes. She had a princess night gown on and ragged looking stuffed animal in her arms. She was half asleep in her father's arms.

Steph watched as the paramedics pulled them aside to check for injuries. The man was shaking his head, talking to the woman in white as he comforted his daughter at the same time. As the family got checked out by the paramedics, a man in blue walked over with a notebook in his hand. Steph couldn't make out what they were saying but it was clear they were talking about what started the fire. Behind them, the firemen worked hard to put a blaze that was reaching out of control. The woman was in hysterics and Steph felt sorry for her. It was clearly obvious that this family had lost everything they had.

And Steph was determined to help.

R&SR&SR&SR&SR&SR&SR&SR&SR&SR&SR&S

She finally made it down to the soup kitchen after two hours of waiting. The GPS had showed her another way to get to Third Street, but it went down a street kind of like Stark so Steph refrained from going that way. Instead, she waited for the crowd to clear. Eventually an older couple came by and picked up the little Latino family. Steph was glad to see that they had family that could help.

She had stayed at the soup kitchen for several hours before finally going back to her hotel to take a shower and call her family for the evening. However, before she could make her first call, the news came on and Steph had to watch. It was about her Latino family. The Cruz's family home had caught fire due to a faulty wire. Unfortunately that faulty wire was next to the hot water heater. That house never had chance. It was just lucky that Diego Cruz had come home early and was able to save his family. He had returned home to grab a file that he had forgotten for work. They didn't mention where he worked or why the family had been at home at ten in the morning. Steph was betting the mom and her kids were sleeping. It was after all only ten in the morning. Maybe the kids had been awake and just playing while their mom slept or something.

But what interested Steph most about the news broadcast, was the ending. The Cruz family was staying with family locally and any donations were welcome. She couldn't believe they actually gave the family's address. It also stated anyone could drop off donations at the local police station, but she had other ideas. Since it was just as Steph had thought. They had lost everything except for the clothes on their backs.

After writing down the family's address, Steph loaded up her car, sticking everything in the trunk. Everything that is except for Ranger's blanket. Since it finally lost its smell, she now slept in the hotel bed. She only kept the air mattress for emergencies because she never knew if she might need it. She grabbed a grand from the stash Ranger gave her and drove to the nearest Wal-Mart with the help of the annoying GPS bitch. Steph went to electronics first and bought a nice camera with several SD cards. Since they left everything which probably included family photos, they were going to need to make new memories. She then picked up shampoo and body wash for all four members. They had Cars shampoo for the little boy. She bought some foundation, mascara, and eye shadow for Mrs. Cruz. Oh and she didn't forget toothbrushes and toothpaste either. It amazed Steph that pretty much everything came in kid-friendly items.

She then went to housewares department. A dark navy blue comforter set went into the cart for the Cruz parents, a Cars one for the little boy, and a princess one for the little girl. Sheets and pillows were added next. She grabbed a few extra blankets just in case. She passed the picture frame aisle and couldn't resist throwing in quite a few. Bath towels and wash clothes were next. She was the sure the family they were staying with had most of this, but the Cruz's wouldn't live with them forever and eventually they would need their own. So why not start right away.

Steph's favorite part of her little shopping spree was the toy aisle. She wasn't sure what either children liked or played with so she picked up a little bit of everything. She grabbed a kid-friendly tablet for each one. A leap frog with extra books for them to share. Several action figures such as the Turtles, Superman, and of course Batman with the Joker. She even grabbed a large stuffed Mater and Lightning McQueen from the movie, Cars. She then found a large rug like mat-thing that looked to be a small city with roads, so she threw that in the car with several boxes of little matchbox cars. For the little girl, she picked up dolls and doll clothes with accessories, dress-up clothes with little tutus and tiaras and several stuffed animals such as a bear, a frog, and a cat. A few Disney princess items went into the cart as well along with tons of books for both children.

She headed towards the check-out but stopped at the last minute. She went back to the electronics and grabbed two portable DVD players. She couldn't afford a television, not with everything she had already bought, but all kids loved Disney movies and she wanted to replace a few. She bought, of course, Cars (one and two), Finding Nemo, Toy Story (all three of them), Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Monsters Inc, Tinkerbell, Epic, The Incredibles, Lion King, and a few others. She was just a little jealous of their new movie collection. She gave herself a smile and headed to check-out.

She wasn't surprised when the amount came out to be more than a thousand bucks, but she didn't flinch or cringe. She just used her American Express and the money her mother gave her to add to the grand. Steph loaded up her purchases in the back seat, since her trunk was full, and then thought for a few minutes about what to grab to eat. Not McDonalds or Burger King, she wanted something a little more... filling. She found a place called Guaca Mole, parked where she could see her car, and went inside. She looked at the menu for a minute before finally giving up. She wasn't sure what they would like. A man, a worker, about her age noticed her frustration and stepped forward.

"Can I help? You look a little frustrated." His face holding nothing but concern, his eyes met hers. He was cute in a 'Hal' sort of way.

Steph sighed. "I don't know if you heard… but a family's home burned today."

The man interrupted her. "Oh yes, the Cruz family, lovely people they are. They come here all the time."

Steph lit up. "They do?"

The man nodded. "Yes. Why?"

"I wanted to buy them dinner this evening. I know it isn't much, but every little bit helps, right?" He nodded his agreement and Steph continued. "Do you know what they usually order?" Another nod this time accompanied with a smile. "Good. Triple their order."

The man's eyes widened and his grin too. "Why of course. Right away. What a sweet thing to do."

Then he was off. Steph kept an eye on her car. She didn't want anyone seeing what was in there and trying to break in. That poor family had already lost so much, they didn't need to lose what they didn't even know they had yet. The man came back with her order and handed her two very large bags.

"It's on the house, Honey. It's a sweet thing you wanted to do. My manager didn't want to take any money."

Steph couldn't do that. She knew Mexican food was expensive, well it was in Trenton anyway. She gave the man a twenty dollar bill, all the cash she had on her at the moment. "At least take this as a thank you for helping me."

He took the money and nodded. "Thank you."

Steph said good bye, put the food in the passenger seat of her car, and using that annoying GPS bitch, she found her way to where the Cruz's were staying. She took a deep breath, swiped on some black courage, and walked up the front porch. She only knocked once when the door was swung open. An older Latino lady with kind eyes and a sad smile stood in the entrance to the front door.

"Yes?" Her voice was heavily accented.

"Hi, my name is Stephanie Plum and I saw on the news about the fire…" No reason to tell her she pretty much witnessed it. "I just wanted to help out so I brought over some food from Guaca Mole. A nice man there said…"

The woman called out and then turned to her with a bigger and definitely happier smile. "Yes, yes, please come in." She stepped back to let Steph in.

"Let me go get the food." She told her and ran back to her car to grab the food. She was immediately enveloped in so many arms and told so many names, she couldn't keep them all straight. The older lady who opened the door was Selena but she told Steph to call her Abuela. Mr. Cruz told her to call him Diego and Mrs. Cruz, Mariana. The cutest kids she had ever met, besides her nieces, were Sofia and Mateo. She met aunts and uncles and cousins galore but there was no one she would ever be able to keep them straight. They invited her to eat dinner with them and she wasn't able to tell them no. Dinner with them was crazy. More so than it had ever been at her parents. Once dinner was finished, she pulled Diego to the side since he spoke perfect English.

"Is everything okay, Stephanie? You are so serious."

Steph smiled. He was nothing like Ranger but he was a good man who loved his family. "Nothing is wrong. I just wanted to… Well, I have a few things for you and your family in my car."

His eyes widened and filled with tears. "You brought more than just dinner. Oh Steph, you are just too kind to us. We have never even met you."

"I just wanted to help you and your family. It's not a lot. Just some blankets and towels and a few toys for the children."

He pulled her into a hug and started speaking Spanish. Steph hadn't a clue at what he said, but they were off to her car where she began to pull bags of stuff out of the car. Every time she put more bags into Diego's hands, he hugged her some more. Once they got everything into the house, the two small children began to pull toy after toy out of the bag. Squeals and girlish giggles reached her ears and she smiled.

Mariana hugged her into a huge bear hug and Steph found it hard to breath. How did such a small woman have so much strength? Mariana thanked her again and again and cried as the children for the first time were happy and laughing. Mariana absolutely loved the new camera and immediately began to take pictures of her two children. She even got one or two of Steph. They eventually got Sofia and Mateo settled down with their portable DVD players to watch a movie. Steph excused herself one more time and went back to her car. She went to her secret stash of cash, took a huge breath, and counted out five grand. She knew this wasn't what Ranger wanted or what he meant when he told her to fly, but she wanted to help and this was her idea of flying.

"Diego? Mariana? I have one more thing I would like you to have." Steph announced quietly to just the couple.

Diego shook his head. "Stephanie, you have given us enough. You have brought smiles to my children's faces and to my wife's as well. I wish there was something I could do for you."

Steph shook her head. "Not necessary, I promise. However, I wasn't able to pick up any clothing because I don't know your sizes, but I know you must need clothing so I wanted to give you this so you can buy your children some clothes to replace the ones they lost. And yourselves as well." She replied, handing Mariana the money when Diego refused to take it. Mariana fanned it out so Diego could see. She then shook her head and broke down into tears. As she held Steph in her very surprising strong arms, she repeated the same thing over and over.

"Nuestro ángel. Nuestro propio ángel de ojos azules. Dios nos ha enviado nuestro propio ángel especial."

Diego pulled them both into his arms and agreed. "God definitely sent us an angel."

R&SR&SR&SR&SR&SR&SR&SR&SR&SR&SR&SR&SR&S

Steph slammed her hotel room door, letting out a small scream. Ugh! She hated journalists, just hated them. All because of a small thing she wanted to do for the Cruz family, she was now being hounded by several people that wanted an interview. It had already been covered on last night's ten o'clock news, this morning at six and then again at noon. Her horse race was tomorrow and it couldn't come fast enough. Then she could leave Kentucky and get away from the blood sucking assholes. She didn't want it all over the news, but it was too late for that. Oh and it was in the flipping papers too. Ugh! She wasn't even sure how it got out. Maybe the Cruz's told someone or something. Ugh!

She was pretty much stuck inside her hotel room until well… until she tried to leave for her horse race tomorrow. She hated being confined to a small space. Those stupid news reporters better be glad that she had all her things from her car, because if she didn't they would be the ones not happy. Just then her phone went off, taking her mind off the reporters and blood sucking journalists.

"Hey big guy!" She answered when she saw it was Tank.

"Little girl, is there something you want to tell us?" Was his response.

"Um… no. Why?" She asked hesitantly.

"So you getting your name in a major Louisville, Kentucky newspaper and all the over the news isn't something you wanted to share?" Tank replied sarcastically.

Steph growled. "How in the hell did you find out about that?"

Tank chuckled. "We have it where our computer informs us if your name pops up anywhere."

She heard someone in the background say something and Tank laughed outright.

"What's so funny, Tank?"

"Hal wanted me to tell you the truth. So I will. Every time you let us know when you're in a new place, we watch the news and the local papers from that city."

Steph didn't know what to say to that, but she didn't like it. In fact, she found it kind of insulting. And it really pissed her off. And it hurt her feelings. They watched the news and papers waiting to hear or see her name. They didn't trust her at all.

"You don't trust me at all." Steph couldn't keep the hurt out of her voice.

"Steph, that isn't why we watch the news or read the papers. We're just making sure that you're safe."

"That's such bullshit. I've been calling or texting you every night to let you know that I'm okay. I ignored the twelve bugs on my car and still continued to call and text you all. But you just never trusted me. I don't even know what to say, Tank. I'll call you in a few days to give you a new number."

"What do you mean by that, Steph?"

She growled again. "It means I'm done being nice. I don't want anything to happen to Ranger's business so of course I want you to be able to reach me, but no longer giving you my whereabouts. You have only yourself to blame. I'm done being treated like I'm stupid and incompetent. Thanks a lot, Tank, for making me feel like that."

She hang up the phone and ripped out the battery. Now she had a whole new reason for getting out of this room. She had a phone to buy, one that was untraceable. She had to do it quickly because she wanted her family to be able to get a hold of her at any time. She peeked out the front window. Along with the disappearing sun, so had several of the journalists. Thankfully she wasn't that big of a story where the Kentucky Derby was held. She didn't want to call too much attention to herself by dragging out all her belongings so she just grabbed all her cash and put it in her pocketbook. She hated having all that cash on her, but at least it was separate from her actually wallet and American Express card.

She was actually able to get to her car without a lot of hassle. She was actually able to get a really nice phone that was completely untraceable. The sales rep assured her that no one would be able to keep track of her or her whereabouts. She dropped a couple hundred bucks for the phone and the service, but it was untraceable and that's all that matter. Tank and his cohorts wouldn't be able to find her to hurt her feelings anymore. Maybe she was just blowing all this out of proportion, but she had asked them to not bug her and they did. She ignored that because she knew they meant well. But deliberately watching the news and reading papers, watching for her name, that was just... they had no trust in her. She was nothing but a joke to them.

Knowing that hurt and it made her want to cry. She was tired of crying. She was tired of being seen as stupid and incompetent. She was tired of looking like an idiot and being seen as the town joke. She was done with it all.