You know it's a good writing day when you have the entire chapter written (by hand) before your first class, and then you have to wait until you get a break to start typing it up. It's amazing how many words you can get typed out in an hour when you don't have to think about what you're typing, just transfer what's on the page to the screen.

Chapter 51

My phone was already in my hand as I made my way from the alley behind Tank's house where I'd parked Big Blue, through the small yard to the back door. Within a minute of me re-engaging the alarm once I'd entered, Tank would be calling me, like always did, and I was prepared. Prepared and excited. Not that I wasn't usually pleased to hear from Tank. I'd figured out rather quickly that calling me to check in when I came to borrow his gym equipment was less about his need to make sure that I'd secured his property and more about allowing himself to take a mental break. That, and spending a few minutes watching his kitty-cam feeds seemed to be the only things keeping him afloat at the moment, which is why I was so excited.

An hour ago, I'd been parked at the side of the road, contemplating my next steps since the skip I was tracking wasn't at home, when a black Rangeman SUV rolled up beside me. It had been so long since I'd encountered any of the guys out on the streets that I'd been slightly started when the passenger window rolled down and Hank leaned out to tap on my window.

"Operation R'n'R is a go," he informed me, holding out a small black case. "Chips are ready to rock and roll, and the team is all lined up. Dewey's hella excited."

I blinked up at him, unsure if he was speaking in code or if he was just stoked about the new technology. Unzipping the case he'd passed to me, I stared down at the three little rectangles inside. "So these are the-"

"We're calling them inhibitors," he cut in. Yep, definitely excited for his new technology-baby. "You slot them into the memory card slot on your phone and it'll block all communication within applications that return the pre-programmed key terms we set." He then launched into an explanation of how the interaction between the chip and the phone worked, and I found my eyes glazing over until the driver of the SUV whacked him in the chest to shut him up.

A second later, Cal leaned into view. "We're leaving it up to you to do the big reveal," he said. "You were the mastermind hind the whole operation, so it makes sense. Let them know that the team will be on the floor from oh-eight-hundred tomorrow to receive orders."

I smiled even though I was doing some quick math to remember when oh-eight-hundred was. "Thanks guys," I said. "I owe you one."

Cal let out a short laugh and shook his head. "Depending on how this weekend goes, you may end up wing us more than one," he said.

"It'll be fine," Hank countered. "Don't jinx it." And with that their chuckles still permeating the air, they'd tipped imaginary hats my way to say good-bye and rolled up the window, driving away once more.

Now, as I expertly slipped through Tank's back door without letting the cats out, I couldn't help but do a little wiggle-dance at how well everything was panning out. I was so happy to be able to give something back to the guys for a change. They'd done so much for me over the years, and even more in the last few months. They deserved something for themselves.

I keyed in the code for the alarm and dumped my purse on the kitchen counter, crouching to pet the assembled cats. I thought of myself as much more of a dog person in general, but Tank's feline housemates were just too cute to ignore. I bet they would be extremely happy to have their daddy home all weekend to relax and love them.

My phone rang, right on time, and I answered on the first ring. "Hey Tank," I greeted. "How's your day going?"

The sound of a crackled exhale travelled down the line, mingling with what might have been the creaking of a chair. "Long and tiring," he informed me honestly. "I have a headache and I think all this extra time at the computer is ruining my 20-20 vision."

"Are you drinking enough water?" I asked, recalling Bobby's usual line of enquiring when I complained of headaches. "Hydration is important. And you need to give yourself regular breaks from the computer. Get up and move around. Look at something that isn't a screen for a while."

He let out a soft laugh. "Yes, mom. I'm taking care of myself," he drawled. "You've been hanging around Bobby too much."

I shrugged, getting to my feet once more and carefully navigating the maze of cats to retrieve a bottle of water from Tank's fridge. "I like to think I'm only letting his good traits rub off on me."

"It could be worse," Tank agreed. "You could be enduring a daily dose of Santos."

"He's not that bad," I reminded him. "Deep down I know you're fond of him. You wouldn't put up with him otherwise." I paused a second, scratching Jameson – who was sat on an end table in the hall – as Tank grumbled wordlessly. He didn't correct me, though, which was telling.

"Anyway," I said, continuing on to his home gym. "I'm glad you called, because I need to ask a favour."

"Anything," he assured me without hesitation, and I had the dual urges to hug him in thanks for his readiness to spring to my aid, and slap him for willingly adding to his already full plate without checking what it was I needed first.

"Knock off at a reasonable time tonight and meet me at Shorty's for dinner," I requested.

There was a beat of silence before Tank asked slowly, "Is that the favour? Or are you going to tell me what the favour is at dinner?"

"That's the favour," I said easily. "Take a break and hang out with friends for the evening."

"Friends, plural?" Nothing got past him.

"You, me, Bobby and Lester," I explained. "Shorty's at seven. Or nineteen-hundred-hours if you prefer."

"Okay," Tank agreed, and I could almost hear the smile in his voice. "I'll be there. You must be serious if you went to the trouble of figuring out the time in twenty-four-hour format."

*o*

Predictably, by the time I arrived at Short's at ten to seven that evening, applauding myself for being early for a change, the guys were already installed in Rangeman's booth at the back of the restaurant. And, I was pleased to note as I neared the table, they had already started in on the drinks. Clearly, they were taking my orders to take a load off for the evening very seriously. This boded well for Operation R'n'R this weekend. Hopefully they would be receptive to the idea and not put up too much resistance.

"Hey, Little Girl," Tank greeted with a subtle smile as I approached. He'd spotted me first because he was the only one on the wall side of the booth, Lester and Bobby having broken the usual formation by both sitting on the vulnerable side, leaving me to slide in next to the big man.

"Thanks for dragging these two away from their word, Beautiful," Lester said, pouring me a drink from the pitcher on the table and sliding it across the table to me. "I'm pretty sure they're starting to crack under the pressure. I walked past Tank's office this morning and I could have sworn I heard him talking in a goo-goo voice like you use on a baby. Either he has a secret kid he's not telling us about, or he's going insane."

Bobby snorted, and I probably would have considered laughing as well if it weren't for the fact that I could feel how Tank tensed beside me at Lester's comment. Knowing what I knew about Tank's relationship with his cats and the systems he had in place for keeping an eye on them when he wasn't home, I could surmise that the goo-goo baby talk was directed into the video-chat food bowl while one of his fur babies ate. The guys had been close for years before I came onto the scene, but they were all quite private people overall, so I wasn't entirely sure how much Lester and Bobby knew about Tank's cat parenting methods. So, while my first instinct was to defend his actions, knowing that Tank's cats were like service animals, helping to ease his stress levels, I also didn't want to betray his trust.

I was saved from my dilemma though, as Tank changed the subject by hailing a waitress and ordering The Usual, which must have covered the whole table, because she just nodded and disappeared.

"So how have things been at the office?" I asked, returning my attention to the ment who had become my closest friends.

Bobby shook his head, swallowing back the mouthful of beer he'd taken as I spoke. "You ask us here to get us to switch off from work for the evening, but your first question is how work is going?"

"You're not very good at his, are you Beautiful?" Lester joked, and from the almost inaudible rumble that emitted from Tank, I had a feeling he agreed with their assessments.

I rolled my eyes. "I was leading up to something," I said, reaching into my bag on the seat beside me. "But I guess I can see your point. I'll just skip ahead to the good part." My hand landed on the items I'd prepared earlier and I pulled them out, placing them on the table in front of me. "I have a present for each of you," I stated.

Lester's eyes lit up. "Oh boy!" he enthused, bouncing a little in the booth. "And it's not even my birthday!"

Ignoring his comments, I handed out the envelopes, one to each of them, and waited.

None of them moved.

"What's this?" Tank enquired, turning envelope over in his hands.

I shook my head, unwilling to ruin the surprise after the Merry Men and I had worked so hard on it. "Just open it," I instructed, and watched as three sets of suspicious eyes pinpointed me for a moment longer than I was strictly comfortable with before averting their attention to meticulously pulling back the flaps and retrieving the contents.

Bobby was the first to discover the big ticket item, a very uninspired voucher I'd quickly mocked up on my word processor and printed at the bonds office yesterday morning. "Work-Free Weekend Pass?" he read aloud, his eyes popping up to meet mine again. "Steph, I can't just-"

"Oh, but you can, Robert," I cut him off. "I organised it with a group of guys from Rangeman. They agreed to hold down the fort for a full two days so that the three of you can finally turn your brains off and de-stress."

Bobby frowned and Tank seemed to be tensing up again, ready to protest right along with him, but Lester had discovered the other gift I'd stashed in the envelopes for them. He held up a little baggy for their consideration. "What's this?" he asked.

Tank cast me an amused look and repeated my retort from earlier. "Just open it."

"Ha, ha, ha," I said sarcastically, bumping his shoulder. "That is a little something Hector and Hank have been working on. Slip that into the memory card slot on your phone and it will block any communication with a programmed… um…" I faltered, trying to remember exactly what Hank had said when he handed them over this afternoon, but it was no use. "Okay, Hank used some technical words when he was explaining it to me, but essentially they set these up to block any calls, texts and emails from or about Rangeman," I concluded.

"That sounds complicated," Tank reasoned slowly, and I had to agree with him there. I couldn't even pretend to understand how it worked.

Lester, on the other hand, was prepared to ask questions I definitely did not have the answers to. "What if Mama calls and asks me how work is going?" he said. "What will happen? Will we be disconnected? 'Cause that doesn't sound like an ideal scenario."

"I don't know," I admitted, though I could understand his concerns on the mom front. My mother would be irate if she thought I'd hung up on her mid-conversation.

Bobby was eyeing his baggy suspiciously. "Has this technology been tested?" he asked.

"I think Hank mentioned some tests they did in the lab?" I said uncertainly. He'd been talking really fast, and not a lot of what he'd said made sense to me, but I was pretty sure he'd mentioned lab testing.

Vibrating with barely contained excitement, Lester laid his baggy on the table in front of him splaying his hands out flat on either side. "So what you're saying," he said, holding my gaze firmly. "Is that we are going to be the guinea pigs for the first field test of these babies?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I originally suggested just confiscating your phones, but the guys pointed out that it was a safety risk, like if you're in an accident or something, and need to call emergency services."

"Okay," Tank said, approval in his tone now. "That makes sense."

Bobby's eyes were wide with wonder now as he stared at the pass and the chips in his hands. "A whole weekend off?"

"I can't wait!" Lester exclaimed.

"Great!" I said with almost as much enthusiasm as Lester. They were taking this a lot better than I'd expected they would. "Because I organised with the guys that you'd all have this weekend off."

It was hard to miss the sharp look Tank speared me with, even as I attempted to keep my focus on Lester's exuberant expression directly across from me. "All three of us off at once?" he questioned.

And just like that, all my confidence dissolved. "Yes?" I said, but my hesitance made it sound more like a question than an answer.

Tank and Bobby immediately erupted into a flurry of questions and statements, talking over top of each other at times as they laid out all their concerns for my plan.

"Who'll be in charge?"

"What about medical emergencies?"

"I have paperwork that is time sensitive?"

"Hal's stitches need to come out on Sunday!"

"I still haven't found an office manager!"

"I need to monitor Binkie's physical therapy."

Eventually, it was Lester who held up his hands for the two men to stop, stepping into an authoritative role that he usually avoided at all costs. "This is exactly why we need this," he pointed out, briefly staring down first Bobby and then Tank. "The two of you are such control freaks that you can't even trust that Steph and the guys would have considered all of your concerns and have a plan in place to ensure everything runs smoothly."

Three sets of eyes turned to stare at me, expectant, and it was all I could do to rattle off the plans we'd come up with at Pino's earlier in the week. "Cal volunteered to be officer in charge," I explained quickly. "With Vince as his second in command. Ay medical concerns that arise can be take to either the ER or the clinic, including Hal's stitches. Or he can wait an extra day and get Bobby to take them our Monday instead. Zero has stepped forward to do as much paperwork as possible for you over the weekend along with a guy named Dewey. And as for Binkie's PT, is it too much to ask that he be able to monitor himself for two days?"

The look on Bobby's face told me he was about to protest my last point, but thankfully, Lester jumped in once again before he had a chance to voice his concerns. "Get Ghost to work with him," he suggested.

Bobby's brows furrowed together. "Ghost?" he repeated. "He has less medical training than you do. Why would I get Ghost to monitor Binkie's PT?"

Lester shrugged. "Didn't he have a similar injury a couple of years ago? He should be familiar with the exercises, know what to look out for."

"You always said he was a model patient," Tank added, having apparently hopped on the Work-Free Weekend bandwagon.

Recognising that he was outnumbered three-to-one, Bobby let out a sigh so heavy that it probably could have drilled straight through the middle of the earth if dropped from a high enough height. "Okay."

I sat up a little straighter, encouraged by his agreement. "Okay?"

"Bring on the weekend!" Lester whooped.

"Perfect," I grinned. "You have all of tomorrow to organise some instructions for the guys and make sure they know what they're doing. Then you're free to do whatever you want – except work," I pointed an accusatory finger at Bobby and Tank to make sure they knew I was referring to them, "- until Monday morning."

Hope you all have a great Thursday... or whatever day it might be for you by the time you read this.