Chapter 15 Paybacks and Full Circle

A/N: Thank you everyone for your patience and support! Your reviews are so appreciated! There is one more chapter coming in this tale to wrap things up. The end is already written but I have a couple of other mysteries to flesh out. Yes, the guys find out who raised the most money for charity. :) Thank you for joining me on this journey and I hope you'll keep reading and reviewing as I learn and grow in the process of telling stories of our favorite Trenton residents. :) To answer Monique's question, yes, I intend to finish up my other open stories after I finish this one. :)

Stephanie POV

Finally, a chance to relax after an eventful night, I kicked off my heels under the table. I teased my toe up Ranger's leg.

"Babe."

"What?" I asked trying to keep a straight face.

"Playing with fire, Babe" he said with a half grin.

I took a sip of my wine as Ranger pulled his phone from a pocket inside his jacket. "Report," he said then grinned at my expression. He enjoyed pulling my chain and how his concise commands short circuited my Burg manners.

"Thanks man, good work."

I lifted an eyebrow in question; OK so it was both; I still don't have that skill yet. Ranger leaned in and kissed my lips lightly.

"Hector is ready," he said.

"Hec is ready for what?" I frowned. Ranger and Bobby exchanged some Rangeman ESP communication. I sighed heavily.

Bobby and Charise brought their wine glasses; pulled the table next to us over and joined us. He set his phone on the table and we could hear the conversations at Lester's table. The sound was perfect-like we were sitting right there with them on their date.

(Sound from the bug on Lester's table)

"How ya doin' kid?" Gloria asked patting Les' shoulder.

" I'm okay," he said pulling the napkin from his nose. "Sorry about the commotion earlier."

"No worries Hon," Susan said taking a seat across from Les and patting his hand, "That Starla is a grown ass woman and should know better than to air dirty laundry in public."

"That being said," Marlene spoke up, "I think that you and any quality young lady you might choose to date in the future could benefit from our years of experience." She looked around the table and garnered several nods of agreement.

Liza reached over and took Les' hand. "Is this Starla person a representative of the type of women you usually date?"

"I don't know if I'd say date, exactly," Lester mumbled.

I coughed and Ranger gave me a smirk in response. Bobby looked smug as the conversation continued.

Liza nodded having heard Lester's admission, "Because it is a waste of time to coach you if all you truly want is a wham bam thank you ma'am."

Les visibly blushed at the older woman's candor.

I had no idea the man even knew what embarrassment was- he is usually so over the top.

"You're a handsome boy and if your grandfather is any indication of how you'll age then you are likely to be a heart breaker for some time to come." Liza paused. "But if you'd like to find someone to love, someone who supports you and makes even the most mundane things in life more fun, then you need to make some adjustments to your current lifestyle."

Les's eyes widened and he shifted in his seat.

Susan sat up. "Besides Lester, I am sure you use protection but would you really want to be tied to someone like that crass young woman earlier if something went wrong and your condom breaks and you ended up creating a new life with her?"

Les coughed uncomfortably.

"Or," Gloria interjected, "You could catch something from your random parade of tail that makes that pecker of yours fall off!"

"That too!" Susan agreed.

I had taken a sip of wine and choked on those last comments. Who knew that his group of mature dates would take him to task, especially so bluntly. Ranger smirked seemingly pleased with the conversation across the room. Lester was surprisingly quiet. The red in his face darkened.

"Oh, don't get all bashful on us now, sexy," Gloria said. "I'd imagine you are quite the adventurous type in the bedroom," she continued.

Bobby choked on a meatball from his entree and Charise had to perform a Heimlich maneuver on him to dislodge the offending hunk of ground turkey.

Ranger bit his lip as he set his fork down to give the conversation his full attention; a mischievous look on his face.

"Who knew Grandma's friends were so candid about sex?" I commented quietly. I glanced over at Grandma and Ernesto as they danced. There wasn't even any music playing but Grams and Ernesto held each other close only having eyes for one another. Their eyes locked; smiles wide. They looked like star crossed lovers. It was sweet. I just hoped he wouldn't break her heart.

"Babe, you're talking about Edna's friends. You didn't think they would be all sweet and grandmotherly did you?"

"I never gave it much thought," I answered honestly.

"So tell me," Gloria continued, "What are you into Lester? Swinging? BDSM? I'm good with a whip!"

Lester choked, his face grew more purple by the second. "I don't think this is an appropriate topic of conversation, especially here at dinner," he said.

As if on cue, the waiter returned with a serving tray full of food for their table. Lester breathed a sigh of relief for the reprieve. After the waiter left, Gloria leaned in and said "I wouldn't mind showing you a trick or two- you know a private tutoring session." She wagged her eyebrows and planted a hand on Lester's thigh. He bolted out of his seat like it had caught on fire and rushed away from her.

I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen him move so fast.

I felt his body shake before I looked over to find Ranger laughing so hard he wasn't making any sound. He reached up and wiped a tear from his eye as he continued to shake in in laughter. Bobby barked out a laugh and fell out of his seat. Charise giggled and I laughed behind my hand. Part of me felt sorry for Les and another part of me knew he'd pulled enough stuff over the years that this was a well-deserved payback. Question was if Gloria was serious or this was part of Ranger's diabolical plan.

"What's the matter Baby," Gloria cooed. "You afraid of an adventurous, experienced woman? I don't leave marks unless you want me to."

Our table burst into a new fit of laughter. Ranger bowed his head over his plate laughing his ass off. Just watching him made me laugh. I'd never seen anything tickle Ranger's funny bone like this.

Lester coughed and sputtered and took Grandma's empty seat.

I turned my attention back to the dance floor then back to the table but Grams and Ernesto had disappeared from view. When I started to panic Ranger took my hand and held it tight. "She is a grown woman Babe. There are cameras and security everywhere and Hector is keeping an eye on everything. Besides, I slipped a tracker in her pocket earlier just in case."

I couldn't help but chuckle at the last sentence. If anyone needed a tracker it was grandma...

"That's enough," Marlene scolded Gloria. "You've shocked the boy. "

TANK POV

As I pulled my truck in to the driveway, my only thought was of washing this day off in a hot shower and heading to bed. I wondered when Lula would be back, I could use a big dose of Lula love. I walked into the house and was immediately aware that my woman was home. Her perfume filled the air, her suitcase was by the door and candles illuminated the path to the bedroom. "In here, Sugar Buns," she called. I dropped my jacket on the back of the chair and high tailed it to her. She was posed provocatively in a sexy little number that made me forget all about the night I'd had, the moment we embraced.

RANGER POV

Babe and Charise were in the ladies room when Brown moved closer and pointed out the return of Ernesto leading Edna back to the dance floor from somewhere in the back. They both looked disheveled and had satisfied grins on their faces. Edna's expression and swollen lips reminded me a little of how Steph looked after one of our alley 'discussions'.

"I'm not sure if I am amused or horrified at the pictures in my head," Brown declared. I agreed with a single nod.

STEPHANIE POV

When we headed out of the restaurant, Grandma and Ernesto were back on the dance floor. They held one another tight, cheek to cheek on the dance floor both clutching the others buns tightly. I chuckled and Ranger let out a soft groan. I nudged him. "I hope we will be like that when we are their age," I said.

"No need to hope Babe, " he said

"We'll always be hot for each other?" I questioned.

"Babe," he said in a tone that said there was no doubt.

We walked by the dance floor.

"Grandma," I said leaning into your ear, "We are leaving. Please let mom know if you'll be out late so she doesn't worry."

"I'm an adult Steffie."

"I know," I sighed, "But you know she'll worry and start ironing the curtains again." I left the part out about how she'd call me expecting me to somehow corral her wayward mother. Sigh.

"We'll check in," Ernest mumbled after placing a kiss below Grandma's ear.

"If you need anything tell Lester," Ranger told them then led me away.

When Ranger and I climbed into the Porsche I remembered that he some answering to do for earlier when he and Grandma had been up to something. Before I could start questioning him about the covert Manoso/Mazur operation I noticed we were going in the opposite direction from home. "Wait," I said, "where are we going?"

He took my hand and kissed it then set our hands on his thigh. "You'll see," he said and entered his zone.

I let out a deep sigh but decided to let him have his little secret for now. We pulled into a private air strip that Rangeman uses. "Ranger?"

"Yes, Babe?"

OK, he is going to make me ask. "Why are we at an air strip?"

"We are flying out," he replied offering nothing else.

"Flying where?"

"On a get-away."

"You're not going to tell me?" I pouted.

"Nope," he said with an emphasis on popping the 'P'. He got out, opened the trunk and pulled out a large duffel bag.

"You coming , Babe?" he smirked holding my door open.

"Dammed infuriating man," I mumbled unfastening my seat belt and climbing out. Ranger stared at my legs as my skirt rode up my thigh. I was pleased to see I could still affect him.

"Of course you affect me, you're a beautiful woman, Babe," he said, "MY woman." He guided me to the stairs with a palm to my lower back.

Damned ESP, but I had to admit that was a good response.

Once we were buckled in I tried again. "Still no clues as to what's going on and where we are going?"

"Alright, Babe. We've both been working hard and I wanted to surprise you with a romantic getaway."

Aww, my man is not only hot as hell, he is sweet. I leaned in and kissed his lips and decided to just enjoy the moment and see what he has up his sleeve.

We stepped out of the plane into the night air, the calming, fragrant sea air caressed my nose. It was obvious we were somewhere on the coast. A black Escalade waited for us. A Rangeman I didn't recognize exited, handed Ranger the keys and climbed into and Explorer that pulled up behind them. I marveled at how Ranger could arrange anything and had men dressed in black everywhere. The ocean air and cozy seat relaxed me a little too much.

Ranger awakened me with a light kiss. "We're here," he said unbuckling my seat belt and guiding me out of the car.

"Welcome to the Hamptons," Ranger grinned and lead me to the posh beach house in front of us. "A client wants to add security to their new beach house and suggested I should use it to get away and then tell him what I think he should have Rangeman install. Your input is invaluable because you'll see something I don't," he said. "We make a great team."

"So this is a working weekend?" I asked

"No, the weekend is ours. We'll put a security plan together on Monday before we leave."

"I like the sound of that!" I smiled running my index finger along his jaw.