Disclaimer: The characters you recognize as J.E. are hers. Any other character is a figment of my imagination and any similarities to real persons is merely a coincidence

This story is definitely AU. The characters have the same physical appearance as in J.E.'s books; however I have changed ages of some characters. This is a Babe HEA and Cupcake fans may not be happy as Joe is now dead and so are Frank and Helen Plum. They were killed off in the original story. References may be made to any of the books in the series so if you haven't read them all, you may want to wait to read this. That said...

Chapter 10: A Family Reunited

Hal's POV:

I don't know how Rafael knew the information he'd given me on New Year's Eve, but I intended checking it out. I'd missed my sister over the past two years. She was the only family I had left. I'd had some copies made of Lainey's picture and I asked a couple of the guys to go with and help me look for her. Woody and Binkie were going with, as was Bobbie. Today we were headed to Middletown, New Jersey. I had checked out the address that Rafael had given me New Year's Eve, only to find the man who was keeping Lainey wasn't doing it to help her. He was holding her against her will. Apparently a stranger had come to town and witnessed the man trying to keep Lainey from leaving the house. The stranger had helped Lainey get away and in the process the house had exploded. Now the man who'd been keeping Lainey the past two years was dead, which was confirmed by an autopsy, and she was with the man who'd helped her get away somewhere in the town.

I headed down to the garage to meet Bobbie, Woody and Binkie. When I stepped into the garage, I wondered what was going on. Woody, Binkie and Bobbie were standing by one SUV, and Ranger, Stephanie, Rafael, and Hector were standing by the Cayenne. I must have looked confused because Ranger nodded and said, "Thought you could use some extra hands."

I got a lump in my throat and had a hard time swallowing. I just nodded and finally got out, "Thank you."

Everyone got in the vehicles and we headed to Middletown, New Jersey. An hour and fifteen minutes later we were stopping on Bayside Pkwy off Ocean Ave. I handed out photos and everyone started going door to door. We'd been up and down the neighborhood and there was only one house left to try. We were nearly back to where our vehicles were parked and the house was more on Ocean Ave.

Stephanie went up to the door and rang the bell. When the door was opened, her eyes widened in surprise. "Diesel! What are you doing here?"

"Well Princess, I could ask you the same thing. Is Hal with you?"

She nodded and turned to us and smiled, "I think we found her."

I hurried up to the door and Diesel looked into my eyes for several minutes before he nodded and moved back so we could enter. There, huddled behind him was the most beautiful person in the world to me. "Lainey?"

She met my gaze and ran to me, throwing herself in my arms. I held her and comforted her and whispered, "Thank God I found you. They told me you were dead."

She nodded and replied, "I was told you had been killed and that I was in witness protection. I couldn't remember anything until one day I was out in the yard and Diesel stopped by to ask directions. Miller came out of the house and was furious we were talking. Next thing I know Miller ran into the house to get his gun and the house blew up. Diesel brought me here and said he'd help me find my family. That was New Year's Eve. Then yesterday Diesel showed me a picture of his Princess and there you were in the photo and everything came rushing back at me."

"Oh Lainey, are you okay?"

"I am now Hal. How did you find me?"

I looked over to Rafael and he winked at me. I smiled and told her she wouldn't believe me if I told her. She hugged me tight and I asked her if she wanted to come back to Trenton with me. She looked at Diesel and I could see her hesitate. He smiled at her and said, "Go with your brother little one. Stephanie knows how to get in touch with me."

I could see Lainey wanted to argue, but she just nodded. "Thank you. For everything."

Diesel nodded and suddenly disappeared. I led Lainey out to the SUV and we headed back to Trenton on the I-95 S.

Rafael's POV:

I was glad Hal found his sister. She was really pretty, nearly as pretty as momma. She was about three inches taller than momma, and she had more up top. Her hair was black and she had gray eyes. She had a sadness about her; I think it was because Diesel had to leave. She was glad to see Hal, but she already missed Diesel. I focused and saw her in a fancy white dress and Diesel was wearing a white tux. Momma and dad were standing beside them on one side with me in dad's arms and Hal was standing on the other side. I smiled. I knew Hal's sister was going to be okay. She was part of our family now.