Disclaimer: The characters you recognize as J.E. are hers. The rest belong to me. Thanks to Knitter (Sandy) for the basic idea for the story.

Spoilers: Anything from the first 18 books.

This is probably more AU than canon. Although there may be material from any of the 18 books, I have changed the reality of Stephanie and the rest of the characters from the Plum series.

I would like to thank all of you that have reviewed. I try to respond to all reviews, so for those of you that reviewed as guests or have your PM turned to off, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you for your reviews. Special thanks to mandyh for her help with it's and its for future reference.

Chapter 29: A Plan In Motion

Stephanie's POV:

I knew the minute Ranger gave me the "special shirt" that it was time to put my plan in motion. I don't know how they did it but the shirt had a magnet that would draw any bullets to a specific spot that would not only cause a pocket to burst so it would look like I had gotten hit, but it was the one spot reinforced so I wouldn't get too hurt. I knew I should expect a bruise and to be knocked unconscious but that should be all. I was nervous even though I'm the one that thought of the plan. I knew the only way Mary Lou would believe I was dead was if she saw it for herself. Ranger and I were going to Pino's on our own, or at least that's how it would look. I'd arranged with Joe and my cousin Eddie to meet us there. We'd eat lunch and then we'd all leave. For some reason I knew that's when she'd strike.

Ranger and I arrived at Pino's and we even got the booth Ranger liked. When Joe and Eddie came in I was surprised to see Carl with them. I glanced at Joe and he gave a shrug like it was unavoidable. Something about the way Carl looked at me and touched me today made me feel slightly uncomfortable. As I noticed the look on Ranger's face I had a sudden thought. Carl was in the picture that I had singled out and he was in the direction Mary Lou was looking. We talked and ate our lunch. When it was time to leave I started to get more nervous. Ranger touched me and I instantly calmed. I knew I could trust him to handle whatever was to come.

We walked out the door and when the shot rang out I felt something hit my chest. I could feel myself falling as the world went black. From the smell of Bulgari I knew I was in Ranger's arms before the world went totally black. When I came to I was in the back of the Cayenne and we had just pulled into the Rangeman garage. Ranger opened the back door and gently helped me to sit up. "Are you alright Babe?"

I nodded, still not capable of speech for the moment. After several seconds I made to get out of the car but my legs weren't quite steady. Ranger lifted me and carried me over to the elevator. Bobby joined us and we rode up to the 7th floor. Ranger sat me on the sofa and Bobby checked me over. The magnet in the shirt had worked to pull the bullet to the spot we needed and the pocket had exploded as it was meant to. I had major bruising in the area that was hit but nothing was broken or badly damaged. Bobby suggested I rest until Joe and Eddie could make it to talk about our next step. I nodded and curled up on the sofa and was asleep in minutes.

I felt a gentle finger brushing over my cheek sometime later and opened my eyes. Ranger smiled at me, "Time to wake up Babe. Joe and Eddie are here."

I sat up and Ranger helped me to stand. He wrapped an arm around my waist and we took the elevator down to the 5th floor. I noticed Carl was there with Eddie and Joe. The look on his face when he saw me alive and well was telling. I was sad that he had been hurt by our actions. I sat beside Ranger and a few minutes later the rest of the team came in along with the evidence. We made the plans for what we would do next. Just as the meeting was ending Grandma and Lula walked into the room. I went to grandma and she clung to me.

After several minutes she looked up at me and patted my cheek before she said, "That Mary Lou better hope she doesn't run into me anytime in the near future."

I smiled, "Don't worry grandma. We have a plan all thought out to deal with Mary Lou."

"Good! Now I know this has to look real, but I just had to make sure you were really okay. Now don't you worry. I'll be the best actress in the world."

"There was never a doubt grandma." I kissed her cheek.

Lula gave me a hug and said, "You take care yourself white girl." Then she turned to Ranger and Tank. She walked right up to Tank and jabbed her finger into his chest, "Anything happens to my girl and you gonna answer to me."

Tank folded his arms across his chest and bent down towards Lula with a glare on his face, "And just what do you think you're going to do missy?"

Lula smiled and stepped up closer to Tank, "I'll knock you on yo ass Big Boy."

I could see the smile on grandma's face and knew there was an answering smile on my face. Tank leaned in closer to Lula and I noticed the sensual shudder she gave in reaction to his closeness. When Tank suddenly went down on his ass, we were all surprised, but no one was more surprised than Tank himself. None of us had seen Lula act. She had cut his legs out from under him by ramming a chair into his calves which caused his knees to buckle and he went down. Tank recovered quickly and when Lula went to step away she wasn't aware Tank had gotten a hold of her ankle and she went down on top of him. There was enough heat between them to start a fire.

Joe, Eddie and Carl made their way out of the conference room and Ranger motioned Junior to see them off the premises. We looked back at Tank and Lula and decided to give them a little privacy. As the guys were walking towards the elevator I had a sudden thought and called out, "Hey Joe. Remember that guy you had following me around when I was looking into my uncle's disappearance?"

Joe turned with a forced innocent look and said, "Whatever are you talking about Cupcake?"

I gave Joe my best Burg glare and took a step closer towards him. Joe put his hands up and said, "Alright Cupcake. I know who you are talking about. What about him?"

"Can you ask him to help us out with the set up? He does deal with fraud after all."

"I'll give him a call and then I'll give you a call when we have all the players in place."

I nodded and leaned back into Ranger's arms. A few moments later Lula stalked over to where we were standing and lifted her head in the air, "Ready to go granny?"

Grandma glanced Tank's way before turning back to Lula. "Sure. We got places to go to make this all look on the up and up." Grandma turned to Ranger, "Course it would look a might better if we had a big strapping young man with us to comfort us."

I smiled because I could see where grandma was going with this. Ranger might have had an inkling too as he asked, "Anyone particular in mind?"

Grandma looked around and stopped at Hal. His eyes got huge and he actually paled. Then her gaze moved on till she reached Tank. She nodded, "How about the big guy?"

Tank looked like he'd been poleaxed. He shot Ranger a look that would have a lesser man wetting himself. Ranger laid a hand on grandma's shoulder and said, "How can I deny you anything in a time like this. It seems only fitting that Tank be the one to take you around town."

There was a low growl coming from Tank's vicinity.

Over the next couple days I stayed in the apartment on 7 when I wasn't doing searches or on the computer helping with the upcoming sting. Hector had found the money and it was all secured. A dummy account had been created and that was the account Mary Lou had arranged to have transferred to her account. The one holdout was the funeral home. It didn't help that the funeral home we needed to use was none other than the one grandma and I had been credited with burning down. They had just rebuilt and didn't want to take any chances. Ranger was ready to apply physical force when I convinced him to invite the owner/undertaker to Rangeman so I could talk to him. Although Ranger didn't like the idea he arranged for it to happen.

I was waiting in the conference room off the lobby when Bobby and Lester walked in with Mr. Bodyman. When he saw me he started to hyperventilate. I asked him to have a seat and then I told him he wasn't seeing a ghost, it was really me. He sat down and put a shaky hand out for the glass of water before him. Ranger was beside me and Bobby and Lester sat on either side of Bodyman. I smiled and waited for him to take a drink.

I sat forward a little and asked, "How are you doing Mr. Bodyman?"

"I've had better days."

I smiled and nodded, "Probably when you thought I was dead."

"NO! I was never more scared in my life! When your grandmother came I locked every door in the place. I just rebuilt, I can't handle another fire."

I bit my lip so I wouldn't laugh, "There won't be a fire this time. But we do need your help."

He was already shaking his head so I continued, "We need your help to catch the person responsible for your first funeral home going up in flames."

Bodyman stilled, "What do you mean?"

"I didn't start that fire and neither did my grandmother. We were at a viewing, but someone else fired the shot that started the fire."

"Are you just saying that?"

"It's true. If you help us, we can catch the person so they don't get away with it."

"I don't know…."

"I can guarantee that if anything happens, I will make good on paying for the damages."

He tilted his head to the side, "Well….."

I glared at him and he swallowed before agreeing, "Alright! Just tell me what to do."

With that last hurdle behind us we were able to go forward. The announcement was put in the paper that the day after tomorrow would be a visitation immediately followed by the funeral service. Ranger would take care of getting me into the funeral home undetected and then we would set everything up to catch Mary Lou.

On the morning of the funeral, Ranger, Tank, Bobby and Les went with me to the funeral home. When it was time for me to get in the coffin I had a few tense moments because it felt too real. I got as comfortable as possible and Ranger handed me a gun to place beneath me. I didn't have to worry about lying still till I was cued so I kept my eyes opened. To say the guests were surprised to see my eyes open was putting it mildly.

Mooner shook his head and said, "That's gonna give me nightmares Dudette."

Sally grinned and said, "Fucking A."

Grandma and Lula were at the coffin when Mary Lou came in. Lula reached out her hand and placed it over my eyes and I quickly shut them. I could feel her closing in when her phone rang. Once she left I knew it was only a matter of time before she returned. I knew we were planning on her second arrival for a precise time and so I was ready with my eyes closed. I once again felt her nearing and had an idea she was looking at me smugly.

I heard Ranger tell Mary Lou, "You're the one that shot her. You killed them all; Val, Terry, Vito, Dickie, and now Stephanie. I know what you have in your purse. Blood money. Now I'm going to kill you."

She responded with, "You can't prove anything."

Ranger told her, "I can prove Dickie. Sally saw you."

I could hear the panic in her voice, "You have no proof."

I heard the rustle that told me Ranger had the check. Mary Lou was clearly not happy with the way things were going as she said, "Give it back. That's mine."

Ranger replied, "No. This belongs to Stephanie's family."

I heard the sound of the hammer on a gun being pulled back and then Mary Lou was saying, "Give me that check or you'll be joining Stephanie in that coffin."

I reached out and grabbed Mary Lou's arm that held the gun. She looked at me and gasped with fright. I yanked with all my might to pull her off balance and threw my body on top of her. I punched her in the gut as hard as I could and then followed it up with a punch to the jaw. Mary Lou realized we had set her up and she attacked. I was ready for her. Not only was I royally pissed at all she'd put me through, but she'd set up Mooner and threatened my grandma. I'd also worked at Rangeman long enough to learn some wicked defense moves. I easily deflected her attack and kneed her in the stomach before clasping my hands together and bringing them down on her back. She fell to the ground and I started throwing punch after punch after punch.

I wasn't aware of Mary Lou bringing her gun up. The first inkling I had that she had planned to shoot me was when I saw the gun in her limp hand. My first clue that she had been trying something was when I felt her go limp and looked up to see the hate on Carl's face as he looked down at her and I felt her go slack. Bobby came over and knelt down beside me. I softly asked, "Is she dead?"

Bobby shook his head. "No. She's alive."

Ranger reached down and helped me up. There was a maybe smile on his face as he said, "Remind me to never piss you off Babe."

I leaned my head into him and asked, "Is it finally over?"

He wrapped me in his arms and softly said, "Almost Babe. Almost."

Bunchie arrived a few minutes later and Ranger went over to where Joe, Eddie, Carl and Bunchie were going over the incident. Bobby stayed beside me and grandma and Lula made their way over as well. Mr. Bodyman was having hysterics. I saw Mooner go over to him and wrap his arm around Bodyman's neck and tell him, "Chill dude. Nothing to fear when Dudette is near."