Chapter 30

SPOV

As I woke my memory went back to the night before and I was sure that as I lay there, I had a shit eating grin across my face. That red dress had certainly been a turn on for Ranger, I wondered if Ella would have known that? Anyway, by the time he had slowly pulled down the zip at the back and pressed soft and gentle kisses down my spine I was humming with need. His hands had come around to the front as the dress fell down to my waist and he was gently rubbing across the front of my bra. I watched him through the mirror as he looked at the reflection of what he was doing. Shit, I hadn't known what a turn on it would be to watch as he cupped my breasts. As his hands lowered down to my stomach the dress continued to fall until it pooled at my feet and I was stood in my undergarments.

"Christ Babe"

Was all that he'd said as he'd stared at my reflection. I'd actually felt really good about how I'd looked, the black bra and panties with the red ribbon running through at the edges. But I think that maybe it had been the suspender belt and stockings that he was referring to. As his hands had moved south I'd wrapped my arms behind me and around his neck, needing the support as my muscles went to jelly.

"Come for me Babe"

Was whispered as his hands and fingers did their magic before the most exquisite climax had thundered through me and all the while his dark black eyes never left my face. I think by then Ranger had been so desperate that he simply turned me around and lifted me up. Time seemed to blur, though I'm sure it had been me who had ripped his shirt open sending buttons flying across the room, as I'd feasted on that mocha latte chest. My memory as he'd entered me almost had me feeling that he was still there, his movement fast and controlled as I'd felt myself building up once again. Oh god, the way that we'd climaxed together, the feelings that took over me.

The ache that I felt was a testament to how often we'd woken each other up during the night, though I was feeling surprisingly rested. I eventually opened my eyes and looked over to the clock surprised that it was nearly 11 in the morning. I sighed to myself because I had no idea what I would do now.

It seemed that the problems in Trenton were over, the Mafia bosses would be happy, and it seemed there was no one chasing me. Personally, I was so worried about the up and coming court date. That seemed to be the one area that I'd never got to the bottom of, finding out exactly who had shot Charlie.

The days passed almost in a dream. I spent my mornings with Mylo, being with him for some of his meetings with the psychologist and a speech therapist. He was making so much progress it was hard remembering what it had been like when he never attempted to speak. Now he would read to me, okay he wasn't chatty and was economical with his words when he would talk but I felt so proud of him.

The afternoons I usually spent doing searches for Rangeman, though there weren't as many for clients as I had been used to, but it seemed that help was still needed with some of the FTAs. It was when I had run out of work to do and to be honest needed something to keep my mind occupied that I decided to try and find out more about some of the men who had made my life hell. I knew that Ranger and the guys were still very alert to the possibility of them reemerging and there was a constant look out for them. The men I would be focusing on were Garner and McCann. You might ask why not Jackson? Well Ranger had done that search and there was nothing there to be found that would show anything suspicious. It made me wonder if the whole of the information we had on Jackson was fictional, made up to cover his tracks and if his name was actually Jackson.

Garner, I had the search in front of me but to honest there was very little that would give me a lead into who he was or where he might be. From his financials he'd literally gone off the radar with no movement on any accounts that I could find. As for McCann, whilst there was a history and evidence of an ongoing life there was nothing out of the ordinary. I ran searches every which way on those three men, family, friends and places they'd frequented coming up with absolutely nothing.

It was a few days later when I was feeling a bit stressed out after a meeting with Hadley that I just had to find something to occupy myself with. Ranger was down in Miami for a few days, so I didn't have him around to distract me. I'd decided to work in the apartment and was using the laptop that Hector had provided for me when a name popped into my head. Tali. I wasn't really sure why I was suddenly thinking of her and as I continued to input her name, to be honest, I felt a bit guilty for doing it. Ranger had said that there was nothing between them beyond her working in his company but. It was a big but, remembering how I felt when she was near to me and her insistence that she help me. Then there was what she had said in the car when we were driving to that safe house, that she saw her and Ranger as compatible. Of course, the fact that we were found at the safe house didn't help my feelings toward her or I suppose Jayce. I had to go into the company records to find out exactly what her name was, surprised to discover that she was actually called Natalie Lenhegan.

As I left that search to do its magic I was suddenly at a loss as to what to do next when I remember how Ranger had known McCann. There had only been the one time that Ranger had remembered working with McCann, when they were on a job with the Rangers looking at a man called Cordoba. Guessing how many years ago it had been since the guys had been in the Rangers. I used a five year span for when he had died, along with the name of the country and his surname and started my searches. Let me tell you there were a lot of people with that name that had died, so in the end I had to go through each one. It took me two evenings of working late into the night when I came across the name Antonella Cordoba, a young woman. There were no medical issues to account for her death so it must have been sudden. I was pretty sure that this was the daughter that McCann had shot and killed, so why not follow the threads from her? The fact that there was very little information about her had my spidey sense tingling.

Looking up her parents it seemed that her father, Antony, was also deceased, though no date was given. Her mother, Luciana, had never remarried and now lived in Mexico. What was even more interesting was that she was on the board of directors for a pharmaceutical company. Okay I know that I tend to jump to conclusions but to me that was too much of a coincidence. Hadn't Ram said that there'd need to be somewhere to synthesize the additive in that drug from Erythrina Velutina?

I felt that maybe I had found a tenuous link, nothing that really proved anything and surely if the wife, Luciana was after revenge for the death of her husband wouldn't she have gone after McCann?

That said, it didn't deter me from continuing. I had time and this was keeping me occupied. So I decided to look more into Antonella. She'd been 24 years old when she'd died but there was nothing to say how she'd died so I turned my efforts to newspapers. Boy, that took some doing, especially trying to read what was said in Spanish, so I left the program to do its work at the end of another long evening. Ranger would be back in the morning.

You might ask why I'd stayed at Rangeman. I never really thought of going back to my apartment. Mylo was here and so was Ranger, well most of the time. I had clothes here and there was always work to do and the company from the men if I sought it out. In fact, Ranger had even broached the subject of me moving in permanently and letting go of my apartment. Yeah, a big move for me and something that I was still trying to get my head around. After court had been my answer, because there was still that horrible feeling that I might not be able to, that I could end up being sent to prison. I'd met with the lawyer, Hanley, and really liked him. I found that I could talk to him easily though why he wanted to know my life history and everything that had happened to me over the past few months puzzled me. Maybe it was his way of getting to know me, of understanding me.

A few days before the court date I know that I was quiet and to be honest wasn't sleeping or eating properly. We'd spent the weekend at the house, I suppose Ranger's way of trying to get me to relax but on the morning that we were due in Trenton I was so anxious it was making me feel ill. Sat in the car as Ranger drove, I couldn't keep still, my feet were constantly tapping up and down, maybe telling me to use them and run before it was too late. Even Ranger's hand on my thigh did little to calm me and I knew that I was interfering with his driving zone. Eventually he just ended up talking to me, which did have me focusing on what he was saying.

"Babe, everything is going to turn out okay. Hanley has a few directions that he wants to use, he has everything under control"

I knew that Hanley hadn't really told me what he was planning, saying the same as Ranger. Not to worry because he had everything under control and his defense was lined up with enough evidence to throw the whole thing into my favor. I thought that he was trying to spare me any details that he knew about, maybe details that the prosecution had under their hats.

"I like Hanley, in fact I trust him"

"I sense a but Babe"

"He hasn't really told me what he's up to"

I looked over to see Ranger's reaction to me saying that and saw the tilt of his lips momentarily, letting me know that maybe Hanley had filled Ranger in more than he had me.

"Do you trust me?"

I looked at Ranger again as he said that, I'm sure a frown coming to my face.

"Of course, I trust you"

Remembering the conversation, the previous evening when Ranger had repeated that if the whole thing looked to be going FUBAR for me then we'd be out of here, disappearing where no one could ever find us. Much as that had calmed me to start with, the idea that Ranger would forfeit his life for me was way beyond what I would let him do. No, if I ended up being found guilty then I'd accept my fate. Which was why I was feeling so anxious now.

As we pulled up in front of the courthouse, I was shocked to see how many people were stood on the steps and struggled to see any of the Rangemen who I knew would be there. As Ranger got out Cal was soon sat in the driver's seat and Ranger had my door open.

"Babe?"

Okay staying in the car was a far better option but a pull on my hand had me getting out onto the sidewalk. A crowd just suddenly seemed to converge on us, cameras pointing at me, voices calling out to me. I literally curled into Ranger's side and with his arm around my shoulders as we made to try and walk up the steps, pushing past people who I had no idea who they were. Hands reached out to me and somebody collided with me against my hip almost knocking me off balance. If Ranger hadn't had hold of me, I was sure I would have faceplanted onto the steps. At last, I had a sea of black surrounding me, like a cocoon protecting me from the outside world.

After entering through the entrance doors both Ranger and I had to walk through a metal detector. I hadn't brought anything with me, what was the point of carrying a bag? And I knew that Ranger had left all of his weapons in the car. He'd handed them to me to lock up in the box just before we'd arrived.

It seemed quieter once inside, which was very welcome, with only Ranger, Tank, Bobby and Les now with me. I looked at my entourage as we once again started to climb up some steps. They looked so out of place dressed in their black suits constantly looking around. I suppose part of their uneasiness was that they would be unarmed as well so would feel a little exposed. At the entrance to courtroom 3, I spied Hanley waiting for me, a large smile on his face as a way of greeting me and possibly as a way to make me feel more at ease.

"Steph, you and I will walk into the courtroom together. We'll be sat on the left at a table. Ranger will be right behind you. Okay?"

The bone melting kiss that Ranger gave me didn't have its usual bone melting effect, I was too fricking nervous, and I was soon watching as Ranger and the guys walked out of sight and into the courtroom to take their seats. As Hanley placed his hand on my elbow, I took a deep breath. This was it, focus on the front, ignore anyone else in the room. Yeah right, maybe good advice but I think even he was surprised at how full the room was. Hell, there were even people standing at the back. I closed my eyes letting Hanley guide me, if I didn't see who was there then I could pretend that we were on our own.

"Steph, open your eyes, sweetheart"

I automatically sat down with Hanley sat to my right, waiting for something to happen. I'm sure the words "Oh shit" nearly came from my mouth as I saw Judge Ernest Donald make an entrance from the door at the side of the room. Hadn't he said that he would make sure that I was found guilty? After standing and sitting I waited for the prosecutor to make his opening speech.

RPOV

Steph looked so lost as she sat in front of me. She was wearing a beige dress that to be honest did nothing for her, though I conceded that it was the image that Hanley had wanted. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail that fell down one side of her neck and I knew that she had begrudgingly foregone the use of makeup.

I listened to the prosecutor put forward his case, a case that to be honest was at most circumstantial but it was how he described Steph that had me feeling annoyed. Deformation of character, in other words implying that Steph shooting someone was how she worked. I waited for the first witness to be called, surprised when it was Mrs. Plum herself and waited for the prosecutor to start with his questions.

"Mrs. Plum. Is your daughter Stephanie Plum?"

I watched as she glanced toward Steph, her lips almost curling with having done that.

"Unfortunately, yes she is"

That had Steph's head snapping up to look at her mother surprise crossing her face at what she'd heard.

"Mrs. Plum. What type of a daughter was Stephanie growing up?"

"Unruly and badly behaved. She would never do as she was told, always playing out on the street and getting dirty. Always up to something that as a girl was totally inappropriate"

"As an adult how was she?"

"An embarrassment. Sneaking out of the house and then getting into trouble with the local boys. The only time she did right was when she got married and then she had to ruin it by accusing the poor man of infidelity"

To me finding Dickie Orr banging Joyce Barnhart was more than infidelity, he's lucky that I hadn't known Steph when that had happened because he would be suffering even now.

"Her job as an apprehension agent, how did you feel about that?"

"That it was a ridiculous job for a woman. It was dangerous and how she worked was constantly getting her into trouble. Cars exploded and buildings exploded. She was constantly being stalked and followed. She even got her old frail grandmother involved. What granddaughter puts her own family at risk"

If I remembered correctly it was Edna who had insisted that she became involved and I know that Steph always tried her best to keep Edna away from any danger. Edna was in some ways similar to Steph, attracting dangerous situations.

"Did you ever see her with a gun?"

"Yes, her grandmother got hold of it during dinner one time and shot the chicken on the table"

"Over the last couple of months, what did you try to do?"

"I heard that she was always getting herself hurt, being in situations where men were attacking her. I tried my best to talk her into quitting, getting a safe job. She was beginning to come around, I think. She was quieter than normal and then she went and shot someone"

"So would you say that Stephanie Plum had a supportive family who only cared for her well being and safety"

"Yes"

The prosecutor turned and smiled at the judge before making his way to his desk and Mrs. Plum stood up as though she was going to walk away. Hanley watched her and as she was half way across the floor, he stood up and spoke out.

"Mrs. Plum. You've not finished yet. Please return to the stand"

After looking at the prosecutor who nodded his head, she could be seen mumbling as she turned around and returned to the stand. I had no idea if anyone had heard what she'd said but from the expression on Hanley's face he seemed pleased that he'd managed to rattle her.

"Mrs. Plum, do you have an older daughter, Valerie?"

"Yes, I do"

"Did you have need to enforce the rules of the house to her?"

"Of course not. Valerie was a perfect child. She behaved as young girl should"

"What type of games did she play?"

"She played with her dolls, read a lot and loved to bake with me. She never got dirty, and she was such a delightful child"

I wasn't sure where Hanley was going with this line of questioning and looking ahead to Steph, I could see that she was feeling the same.

"Two totally different children, one who was quiet and insular and one who was exuberant. How did you discipline Stephanie?"

"Pardon?"

"When you determined that Stephanie had broken your rules, what happened to her? Did you shout at her, slap her or maybe something else?"

That question obviously had Mrs. Plum nervous, and Steph was now leant on the desk waiting to see what her mother would say.

"I, I shouted at her and sometimes I would ground her, stopping her from going out of the house"

"Mrs. Plum, I have here a record of a hospital admission from when Stephanie was six years old. It reported that she was brought into the hospital soaking wet, freezing cold and with a broken arm"

"She jumped from the roof of the garage. That stupid child thought she could fly and look what happened. She broke her arm"

It was obvious that Mrs. Plum was becoming annoyed, though why was confusing me. Steph had told me about her doing that, about even at a young age that she had wanted to fly.

"I have an affidavit here from a neighbor who used to live in the row of houses behind where you live Mrs. Plum. She was horrified at how you would put your child through a window onto the garage roof, shout at her and leave her there for hours on end in all types of weather. Do you think that maybe Stephanie jumped from the roof because she didn't know what else to do, that she was trying to escape your tyranny?"

"I don't know what you're talking about"

I couldn't understand why Steph had never mentioned that being done to her, or had she coped with it by forgetting it, using her land of denial. After all she had been a very young child.

"Mrs. Plum, let me remind you that you are still under oath and that we have a witness to how you treated your daughter. A young girl who only wanted to play out, who didn't have the same character as her older sister. So, I repeat. Is that how you disciplined your daughter, is that what you thought a supportive family should do who only cared for her well being and safety?"

Hanley had made his point and didn't bother to wait for Mrs. Plum to respond even though she never moved from her seat. It was the judge who spoke to her and told her to leave her seat and return to the main courtroom area. The prosecutor didn't look to be happy, but maybe he should have done a better job of investigating his witnesses before he put them on the stand.

The next one was going to be interesting, but I was concerned with how Steph was feeling after what her mother had said and what Hanley had managed to dig up. No wonder he hadn't told her his plans because I was sure that she would be feeling very confused at the moment. It brought back to me what Steph had said went through her mind when she was shot and fell off that roof and her reaction to her mother at the bail hearing. Maybe Steph was suppressing a lot more memories than she realized.

I saw Steph sit up straight so turned to where she was looking, following Morelli as he walked up to the stand and was sworn in. He was dressed in a suit, that really didn't fit him too well, as though he'd gained some weight over the last few weeks. It didn't hide the swagger in his walk or the expression on his face, that cocky look that told people that he was always right.

"Detective Morelli. What was your relationship with Miss Plum?"

"She was my girlfriend, soon to be my fiancé"

The movement of Hanley's hand onto Steph's shoulder told me that she was annoyed enough with Morelli saying that, that he had to hold her down.

"Detective, Miss Plum worked as an apprehension agent. What did you think of that?"

"It terrified me, to the point that it made me ill. She was constantly having run ins with skips putting her life in danger. She's been stalked, kidnapped, shot at and I've lost count of how many cars have blown up"

"Why do you think that happened to her?"

Morelli had the nerve to look over to Steph with a sweet smile on his face before he answered.

"She was hopeless at the job. Ill prepared with no training and a compulsion to just dive into something without thinking"

Okay maybe I agreed with the last two statements. She did need training and she was compulsive, but she had other skills that were definitely way ahead of his or even mine.

"What did you do?"

"We were planning on getting married so I was insisting that she stopped working. That she'd be safe living with me as my wife and mother to my children"

"So you were trying to keep her safe?"

"Yes"

"Did she carry her gun with her?"

"Not always"

"Had she shot anyone before?"

"Objection your honor"

"Rephrase your question Mr Daringer"

I knew that Steph had used her gun on occasion and I also knew that when she was me that she carried it. Her shooting anyone had only ever been in self defense and I only knew of her doing that twice.

"To your knowledge has Miss Plum used her gun on anyone?"

"Yes. She's shot dead two men that I know of"

Daringer turned and nodded at Hanley letting him know that he was finished with his questioning. Now the fun would begin.

"Detective, didn't Miss Plum finish your relationship several months ago?"

"Possibly but we were always falling out and then getting back together again"

"So you were back together again?"

"Yeah, I'd call at her apartment with take out and go to her parents for dinner"

That about summed up how Morelli saw a relationship and he may well have thought that they were indeed back together.

"Detective Morelli, how do you know Draven Laxby?"

Morelli actually paused for a moment before giving his answer, yeah he knew that he'd been sworn in and if he was found lying could be in serious trouble.

"He's a mechanic on Stark. I sometimes see him around and I know he's been arrested a few times"

"I have a sworn affidavit from Mr Laxby. Testifying that you bribed him, that you made him carry out a series of attacks on Miss Plum in return for his charges being dropped. That you threatened a taxi driver, a Mr Gary Sturnam to drop the charges against Laxby. Was that your way of keeping Miss Plum safe, to set her up and then verbally abuse her for being incompetent at her job?"

"She needed to quit that damn job"

I'd expected Hanley to finish his questions there so was surprised when he remained looking at Morelli.

"Where did Miss Plum normally keep her gun?"

"In her cookie jar in her apartment"

So Hanley was going for Morelli for planting the gun in Steph's bag.

"Did you ever hand it to her?"

"No. I'd tell her that she needed to take it with her"

"Did you handle it, you know take it out and maybe try to coax her into taking it?"

"No"

Why so many questions, why not just come out and ask if he'd put it in her bag? I couldn't follow where Hanley was going with this.

"I have a sworn Affidavit from an Officer Grouper saying that you told him to pull Miss Plum over on a minor driving misdemeanor and search her bag. Why did you tell him to do that?"

"I thought if she happened to have her gun on her then maybe being charged with carrying would get her to rethink her job and being with me"

"So you knew that her gun was in her bag?"

That had Morelli looking uncomfortable, but he knew that he had to give an answer that was somewhere near the truth.

"It was a possibility"

"I'll remind you that you are under oath Detective Morelli. Did you put Miss Plum's gun into her bag?"

That was the question that needed to be asked five minutes ago and I could sense the stillness and quiet in the room as we all waited for Morelli's answer.

"Yes"

There was the rumbling of talking behind as people realized exactly what Morelli had done, though I had a feeling that Hanley might still have a few tricks up his sleeve yet.

Morelli was told to leave the stand but to stay around in case he was wanted later, which had both me and Morelli wondering why that was. The next witness was Detective Rosbourne which was logical considering that he was the lead detective on the case.

Daringer would think that this witness would be cut and dry and probably thought that he was going to be the man who would prove beyond reasonable doubt that Steph had shot Walters. He was in for another surprise and that was something that I knew for sure.

"Detective. What evidence did you find that led you to Miss Plum being the shooter?"

"Her bag was on the couch so when I looked inside to find out who it belonged to, I discovered the gun along with her id"

"What led you to believe that Miss Plum had shot Mr Watson?"

"The bullet pulled out of Mr Watson's chest was a match to the gun. The gun had been fired recently and had Miss Plums prints on it"

"Were there any other prints in the house?"

"No it was clean, but Miss Plum had gone"

"Thank you, detective"

As Hanley stood up, he turned to me and nodded. He knew what we'd discovered about the position and angle of shots and that one bullet was missing. Hopefully this part would enable Hanley to tear down any preconceived notion about Steph being the shooter.

"Detective, what happened to the bullet that struck Mr Watson's head?"

"It had been removed"

"So let me get this right. You are saying that Miss Plum removed the bullet from the wall?"

"She must have"

"Okay. That she consciously got rid of that bullet from the wall but then walked out of the house leaving her bag and gun?"

Yeah, Rosbourne hadn't thought that one through.

"I'd like to show the court a schematic of the victim with trajectories for where the bullets travelled"

We all watched as a screen lit up with a view of the room in the house where the shooting had happened. There was the outline of a man who I assumed depicted Watson and a figure that represented a figure holding a gun. Red lines from the gun to Charlies head showed the first shot that skimmed his skull.

"The wound on Mr Watson's head was straight. Had it been Miss Plum who took the shot"

The screen changed but this time the shooter was shorter.

"Then because of her height the wound would have taken an upward trajectory. The real shooter was as tall as Mr Watson"

Hanley changed the screen back and forth to emphasize what he was saying and then turned back to Rosbourne.

"In your opinion, Detective Rosbourne, could a person smaller than Mr Watson have fired that gun?"

"I suppose not, but why"

Hanley held his hand up to stop Rosbourne from continuing to talk and was moving on to a new line of questioning.

"Detective, did you canvass the neighbors, you know look for any eyewitnesses?"

"Yeah, sure we did. There weren't that many people at home and half the houses are empty, so we didn't get anything useful"

"I'm entering another affidavit into evidence from a builder who was working up scaffolding on a house on the other side of the road. He saw two people hammering on Mr Watson's door, before disappearing inside. Did you ever think that there was someone else in the house Detective?"

Hanley passed a copy of the statement from the roofer to Daringer and Rosbourne and gave them a few minutes to read it. The problem was that the roofer saw the two people but never really looked at them sufficiently to be able to describe them.

"The gun Detective, I know that you found Miss Plum's fingerprints on the handle. Did you look anywhere else?"

"No, I mean that's where the shooter's prints would be"

From the frown on Rosbourne's face I was pretty sure he knew that Hanley was going to add something that he wouldn't like.

"As you know I requested further work on the gun. They found other prints, at the end of the barrel and on the bullets inside the gun. Do you know whose prints I found?"

I wasn't too sure if Hanley expected an answer or not and to be honest this was news to me. Hell, usually it would be me that placed the bullets inside Steph's gun, so were they mine? Surely Hanley wouldn't bring this up if he knew they were mine, would he?

Hanley turned to the room as though making a grand speech, everyone eager to hear what he was going to say.

"The prints belonged to Detective Joseph Morelli"

I smiled at that piece of news because it definitely supported the fact that Morelli had been setting Steph up to fail.

"This is bullshit"

Came from Morelli who was now stood up definitely looking annoyed as he faced the judge and Hanley.

"You're trying to set me up and let me tell you. I had nothing to do with shooting Watson"

Hanley turned to the judge and immediately both Daringer and Hanley were having a very quiet conversation in front of the bench. They both turned and returned to their seats as Judge Donald brought his gavel down hard on the bench in front of him. The room immediately became quiet, knowing that he was about to make an important announcement.

"The prosecutor has wisely listened to the evidence brought here by the defense. In light of that and the weak circumstantial evidence provided to him, the case against Miss Plum for the grievous assault on Mr Charles Watson is being dismissed"

The noise that came from behind me was almost ear damaging. I could hear Lula shouting with Connie, Dougie and Mooner and most of my men who were here along with the cops stood at the back. When I turned ,I was surprised to see Val stood with Mary Lou and Steph's grandmother. I had blocked everyone from behind me during the trial trying to focus on Steph and what Hanley had been saying.

I moved to my right to meet Steph as she walked away from the front not surprised to see tears in her eyes. I couldn't get to her quickly enough before she was deluged by people hugging her and talking to her. The crowd seemed to trap her, pulling her up the aisle until a sudden silence came over the room.

There stood in front of Steph was her mother trying to smile, but maybe a grimace would be a better way to describe her expression. As I reached Steph and stood behind her, she backed into me, knowing that I was there and that I would support her with whatever was said between them.

"I, I'm sorry Stephanie. Joe, he was the one that told me that you had to leave that job. I hope we can move past this and get back to where we were"

I felt Steph take a deep breath and her stand tall, knowing that whatever she decided to say or do then I would support her. Okay if she accepted her mother's apologies, I wouldn't be happy, but at the end of the day she was her mother.

"Too little too late. You have never supported me not when I really needed it, instead you believed the worst of me and punished me instead. So no, I will never move past this and I definitely don't want to get back to where we were"

Mrs. Plum was definitely not expecting that from Steph and her mouth was opening and closing without a word coming out. Someone behind her pushed her to side and stood there was her sister.

"I didn't know that she treated you like that, I'm so sorry Steph. Half the time you were doing it for me and that's the wrong way round. I should have been looking out for you. When and if you're ever ready then I'd like to be a better sister"

I felt Steph nod her head and start to move forward again with me by her side every step of the way.