Junior stood there staring at Stephanie trying to figure out if what he was seeing was real. Before he could say anything, Stephanie spoke.
"How? Why are you..." Stephanie couldn't complete a sentence.
"I take it you two know each other?"
"A little," replied Junior as he smiled at Stephanie.
"Any problems with the two of you working together, Steph?" Tank asked. He knew he should make sure they both were okay to work together, but he was more worried about Stephanie as she was the one that would be in danger that night.
"No," she said, "we can work together. We need to go over the file and see if Junior thinks my plan will work." Looking at Tank, "Thanks for the concern, Big Guy, but I'll be fine." Looking back to Junior, "Follow me and we can get started."
Junior nodded to Tank and followed Stephanie out of Tanks office. Stephanie walked to the breakroom for water and snacks.
"Hey there, Beautiful, need anything?" Les asked as he kissed her forhead.
Hugging him, she smiled, "I'm good, but thanks for asking."
Les looked at Junior, "Good to see you man." Lowering his voice so only Junior could hear him, "Take care of her tonight. She gets hurt and you'll never know what hit you."
Junior wondered if Stephanie was dating Lester and felt a pain in his heart. He wanted to reach up to rub his chest but refrained. "I'll do my best."
Stephanie and Junior grabbed waters and snacks before leaving the breakroom. As they headed to the conference room, she spotted Cal. "Hey, Cal. I gave the Clementine's proposal to Tank to look over. If has no changes, you are good to go."
"Excellent, thanks, Angel," Cal replied and have her a hug. "I appreciate your work on it."
Reaching the conference room, Junior held the door open for Stephanie. Once she walked through, he stepped in and let the door shut. Before he could do anything else, he pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight, "I can't believe my Sunshine is Stephanie from Rangeman. I can't believe I have you in my arms again. I've missed you."
Stephanie relaxed into Junior's arms and breathed him in. "Clinton, is it really you?" She knew it was, but she couldn't believe that the man who has been in her dreams every night for two years was actually standing in front of her.
"It is me, Sunshine. I'm so glad that I told Tank I'd do this tonight."
Stepping from his embrace, she took his left arm and raised his sleeve up a little. She knew it would be there, but she had to check. As she brought this arm to her face, she kissed the figure eight tattoo.
Junior had never had anyone kiss his tattoos other than Stephanie. He wasn't sure why, but when she did it, he felt a tingle throughout his entire body. He remembered the first time she did it and he wanted to feel that for a very long time.
"We need to get started on the case," Stephanie said as she stepped away from Junior. "I just have one question before we start."
"What's that, Sunshine?" Junior asked as he kissed the top of her head.
"Should I call you Junior? I've only ever called you Clinton and that's the only way I've thought of you for the past two years."
"You've thought of me for two years?" Junior knew he'd thought of her often but was sure she'd have not thought twice about him. They had agreed it was a one-night stand and nothing more.
"Clinton, I've never stopped thinking about you. I never thought I'd see you again, but I always hoped." Taking a deep breath, she decided to be honest with him, "When I started working here, I used the search programs and tried to search anyone with the first name of Clinton that lived in Virginia. I never knew your last name, so I didn't get very far."
He smiled and shook his head, "You wouldn't have found me, but you can call me either. For you, I'll answer to Clinton."
Not wanting to dig deeper yet, she smiled and said they should get started. She told herself she'd find out what he meant by that later.
"Okay, here is the file on Paul Hoffman. Read through it then I'll tell you my idea. You tell me if you think it will work or if you have other suggestions."
They both sat down at the table, and she watched his face as he read through the file. She could tell when he got to the descriptions of what he did to the women. Taking a deep breath, he slowly let it out before looking at her.
"I don't like the sounds of this. I don't like that it will only be you and I in there. What if something happens and I can't protect you?"
"I can hold my own. I just need someone with me to help me get him out. As you see, he prefers couples unless it is a teenage female. I can't pass as a teenager," she joked.
After a few hours, they agreed that they would pose as a couple that was arguing over who would become the third member of their relationship. They knew that most of Rangeman Trenton would be surrounding the building and they would all be wired up to hear every word.
Satisfied with their plan, they decided to grab some lunch from the breakroom. "Sunshine, can we do dinner tonight? We don't have to be at the bar until 2130."
Stephanie thought about it and decided it sounded good, "We can do dinner and then after the distraction, maybe we can stay and have some drinks and catch up?"
"Sounds good to me."
Tank walked into the breakroom while Steph and Junior were eating. "How are things going?"
"We have a plan for tonight. I just need to make sure everyone is wired and is outside the building." Steph remembered what Tank had said to her in the morning, "Tank, how are you going to surround the place before he gets there? You said he'd rabbit if he saw anyone."
"Well, you and Junior are going to have to get there a little earlier. When you see him inside, send us a signal and we'll come out of hiding. We will be there, don't worry; he just won't see us."
Stephanie trusted all the guys and knew they'd do what they could to keep her safe. She just hoped she could do what was needed to keep them safe as well.