Chapter 42

"What now?"

Because I really wanted to know what was happening to that man and what was going on with the internal affairs investigation. I suppose both might take some time to happen but I was hoping that having found out what had really happened to grandma that it would give Joe Morelli something to think about.

"Now we are offline for a week. Finish off any last minute things, but we are leaving in an hour"

I was in a dilemma as to whether to go to seven and pack some clothes or to see Xander and have him collate all of our paperwork. Seeing as I had to go past five first, I called in there to see what needed to be done. Xander had already started to take down some of the searches from the board.

"I see you've already made a start"

I said as I walked over to where he was currently working.

"I've saved everything electronically into a file on the Rangeman server but wasn't sure what you did with all the paperwork"

I wasn't sure if I had a need of the paperwork and if for some unforeseen reason I needed something then I could always reprint it.

"File everything into boxes and then get them to Lawrence Peralta"

I knew that not everything was down here, the letters and photos from grandma were upstairs, so Lawrence wouldn't be able to work out the significance of my grandpa's gravestone or where I had found the tie pin. Explaining why grandma had driven to where she had was a bit more difficult. I'd deal with that if Lawrence ever asked.

"Everything?"

I was about to say yes when I looked to where Xander was pointing to. It was the details of the phone records that Xander had done on Gregory and Jenson. I didn't want to see them involved in this.

"Remove anything to do with Gregory or Jenson and Anya. Oh, and anything on Morelli, pack that in a separate box and ask Miguel to put it somewhere safe"

Maybe it would be needed in the future, but I really hoped that Willoughby had found something that would be bring an end to Morelli and that what we found out about how grandma had died would add some weight. Apparently, the official news for that would only come to light at the man's trial.

"I'm away for a week so will you be here when I get back or are you going back to Hoquiam?"

"Ranger arranged for me work with one of his men this week, so I'll see how that goes"

I knew about that but that was before we managed to work everything out. Maybe it would be good for Xander to spend some time here. I gave him a quick hug before leaving the room and heading up to seven, though I was beginning to wonder what on earth to pack seeing as I had no idea of where we were going.

Of course when Ranger said that he would arrange everything he meant everything, including a small case that was already packed and waiting for me at the door. I was about to open it and have a look inside to see if I could work out from the clothes where we were going when the door suddenly opened.

"You ready?"

"I, err, what should I change into?"

"There are some clothes on the bed"

Was all that he said as he disappeared with the bag. Damn, I wasn't going to get any ideas from the case, so I went through to the bedroom to see what clothes Ranger was seeing as suitable. Huh, hipster jeans, a T-shirt and a hoodie. Not exactly giving anything away. I sighed as I realized that this was Ranger and his way of surprising me and probably controlling everything.

He was waiting for me stood by the door as though he was anxious for us to leave and even had the elevator waiting for us with the doors open. Once in the garage Les was opening the door of a Cayenne for me, but I was surprised when Ranger got in the back with me. It felt strange driving through Trenton without the fear of anyone following me and liberating when I realized that the guilt and the blame that I'd carried around with me for so long was slowly beginning to subside. It was still there in the background, maybe it was too ingrained to go away quickly but I would get there. I suppose what I had experienced from my family, Morelli and even some of my friends, would always be a part of me now but something that I would learn from.

The time spent on reflecting over my life as Stephanie Plum had given me an insight into her many failings, so now, I was ready to move on and as Ranger had once said "Keep the good parts and improve on the rest"

"Babe?"

I turned to Ranger and realized that the car had come to stop but I have to say that what I was seeing surprised me. I hadn't even thought that we would be travelling a long distance, maybe a car journey, but seeing the sleek black jet sat there with the stairs down and the door open implied somewhere further away. I opened my door and waited for Ranger before he guided me up the steps. Inside reminded me of the jet that we'd flown on from Chicago, man that seemed like an age ago. I was more relaxed now and could appreciate the luxury of my surroundings. Ranger stayed with me, well as far as I could remember, because I was so relaxed that I ended up sleeping.

When I wasn't asleep, I tried to work out where we were from looking out of the window but there was not much joy from doing that. Ranger kept me occupied by talking with me and we were soon sharing childhood memories. Even then it was evident to me that my favorite times had been with my grandparents, or I was avoiding talking about my mother. His experience of having older and younger sisters was enlightening and at times funny but I got the feeling that there had been a lot of love in his home. Of course, he'd gone through the whole teenage rebellious phase which had landed him in so much trouble that he'd ended up down in Miami with his grandmother.

I loved the sound of Miami especially how Ranger described it to me, not from when he was a kid but from when he went down there to the Miami office. It gave me the opportunity to catch up about Julie because she was one of the regrets that I had when I left Trenton, that I stopped staying in touch with her.

As the plane started its descent, I struggled to see anything of where we were because it was so dark. But what hit me as I stepped from the plane was the heat. I could almost feel my bones warming through, it felt delicious. Other than guessing that we were somewhere south I had no idea of where we were and would have guessed at Miami if it hadn't been such a long plane trip. Then a little niggle started to play through my head when the driver of the taxi we were taking told me to remember to change my watch because where I was 6 hours ahead. I'd been somewhere once before where I'd had to do that, a long time ago. I was staring through the window as lights began to appear on the horizon and stared at the building that appeared in front of us.

"You brought me back here?"

I whispered.

"It's a place that holds the best memories for me"

As the door opened, I couldn't help but remember. A holiday courtesy of a murderer which I envisioned spending on my own. It had been the most spontaneous thing that I had ever done, calling Ranger to help bring in an FTA, but to this day I never had any regrets of the week that we'd spent here and here we were again.

"Sir your room is ready, I'll have your bags taken there. If you follow me, I'll show you to your room"

A different receptionist and thankfully one who wasn't flirting with my man. I was excited as we walked along the narrow winding path behind the cabanas knowing the scene that would greet me in the morning.

"Babe"

I stopped as Ranger called out my name and walked toward the door that he was holding open for me. Stepping through the door was when he hit me with the bombshell.

"I'll see you tomorrow evening"

And then he was gone. What the fuck, why was he leaving me here on my own?

"White Girl, you're here, you're actually here"

I turned at the high pitched scream and was nearly bowled over when I was wrangled into a hug.

"Lula, how are you even here?"

I couldn't believe who was standing right in front of me. Tears were flowing down my cheeks as I maintained my hold on her, just to make sure that she really was there.

"Steph, I was so worried about you, and I was so pissed off at what was being said"

"I know, but it's over now Lula"

"So, Batman, eh? How in the hell did that happen? I knows that he was looking for you but Hal, well he had such a long face because there was no sight of you"

I stepped away and got a look at Lula seeing how happy she looked.

"Have you been doing okay? I'm sorry Lula but I had to leave"

Which had more tears coming to my eyes. I'd left everyone behind, but it had hurt to leave her and know that I couldn't get in touch with her. She'd been my one constant and had been the one who had saved me.

"We're even now. Anyway, no way was I gonna let you down. I ordered us some drinks and food so now you can tell me about everything that's happened"

That was exactly what we did, forgotten was the feeling of being abandoned by Ranger because it had been him that had made this happen. Did I tell Lula everything? Almost. I left out the part of walking into the ocean because she would have been upset with me about that and probably upset with herself for not being with me to stop me.

"Your granny did what?"

"Followed the clue on the tie pin and worked out where the treasure was"

"I always did like your granny, she was so, so full of life and young at heart. Nothing would have stopped her if she was on a mission. Man, you and her are so alike"

I had to admit that I agreed with that but also acknowledged that being so spontaneous was one of those things that I had to improve on. As I watched Lula drink the last of the cocktail from her glass, I could see that she was becoming serious.

"What is it, Lula?"

"You aint mentioned what's going to happen to Morelli?"

I shrugged my shoulders, because I didn't know. I hadn't held back that Ranger had done some digging on him or the possibility that he had tried to coerce Crocker to set fire to my car. That obviously hadn't happened because the railway man had confessed his part of what had happened to grandma.

"I don't know. I'm not even sure that anyone could ever prove that he even spoke to Crocker"

"Yeah but shooting him and planting a gun on him, that aint right"

"They'd have to prove that it was Morelli who took the gun from the evidence locker"

"He aint stupid, well not when it comes to cop stuff"

I knew what Lula meant and to be honest that was something that was still preying on my mind. What if he walked away clean, what would that mean for me? He couldn't exactly be charged with shouting or belittling me, making me feel so bad about myself that I ended up doing what I did. Maybe I was too quiet after that because Lula was suddenly pulling me into one of the bedrooms.

"You need to sleep, and so do I, we have a big day today"

A look at my watch told me that it was nearly 4 in the morning, yeah it was definitely time to sleep.

I didn't sleep too well and not because of nightmares but because I missed the feel of Ranger next to me. I'd really enjoyed my time with Lula, but I wanted my man with me. I almost shook my head as I thought that. Was I becoming some clingy dependent woman? Ranger would hate that, and I think that I would as well. Maybe a day relaxing by the beach, swimming in those warm calm waters or even lounging in the jacuzzi was what I needed. No, no jacuzzi unless Ranger was in there with me because I could remember just how good he was in the jacuzzi.

I was surprised when I looked at the time to see that it was nearly 1 in the afternoon so rushed to get up to get a shower. The place was similar to how I remembered being here with Ranger though without an outside shower area and obviously there were two bedrooms.

Walking back through to the lounge area I stopped because I had a sudden panic that somehow, I was in the wrong place. There were two women huddled over an array of boxes on the table and what looked like some sort of lounge chair in the middle of the room. With only a towel wrapped around me I was about to retreat back into the bedroom to see if I could find anything to wear.

"I was gonna come and wake you up, girl"

Lula's beaming face appeared from the door that led outside as she came into the room surprising me.

"Here put this robe on and then we're going to be beautified"

I took the robe from Lula's outstretched hand but was still looking around the room. Maybe some time being pampered would be something that I'd enjoy. Being pampered was an understatement. The lounger, well it flattened out and provided a bed for a massage and other chairs were utilized for nail treatments. My skin felt amazing following the application of body cream that had a subtle smell of vanilla. My hair was dried and styled before one of the women approached me carrying a bag full of makeup.

"Lula, isn't this a bit over the top for just being on the beach?"

It's not often that Lula can look surprised, but her expression certainly gave me that impression.

"Girl, this is your special day. Ranger, well he's going to be meeting you on the beach at sunset. He didn't tell you, did he?"