Disclaimer: The characters belonging to Janet Evanovich are used strictly for entertainment purposes.

A/N: I'm so sorry that updating took this long. My recovery has been more painful than I thought it'd be. I had some kick ass drugs, but it was frustrating to not be able to do anything but read or watch TV. I've been so bored! Thanks to all of you who sent me well wishes!

I'm really HOPING that I'll be able to post chapter 25 by Thursday this week. My plain is 24-25 this week, 26-27 next week, and 28-30 the last week of December. I don't know which days, but I will be done before the first of the year.

…

Chapter 24

One of my happiest moments on this crazy European ride came when I boarded the flight to Newark this morning. Granted, I was still traveling as Giuliana Ramoso, but at least I was going home. Since I technically 'died' in the States, Ranger said it'd be easier to get my official documents reinstated in Trenton.

We were travelling with Seppe in a rented jet. I didn't ask why and I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer because it probably had something to do with weapons. In addition to Ranger, Tank, Lester, Seppe, and I, there were several men in Seppe's employ with us. Walker had dropped us off at the airport.

When I asked why he wasn't coming with us, he said, "Prior commitments." He was flying back to wherever he lived tomorrow to get back to his own life.

Last night, before leaving Seppe's house, I told them both what I'd learned about Carlo and we all agreed the only logical explanation was Harry. Why he'd try to fake my baby's death, we didn't know, but the only real answers would come from him.

On the way back to the hotel, Ranger took me to a hospital to have my shoulder checked out. The x-rays proved the wound was all flesh and it'd take a couple of weeks to heal properly. Considering that Adriano had wanted me dead, I was lucky, but it still didn't feel like good luck when I remembered all the details and thought about Marco, too.

We knew nothing. Ranger's contacts at Marco's 'organization'—one Ranger refused to name no matter how many times I asked—still hadn't called with information. I now feared that we'd get a call saying they couldn't find him and we'd never know the answer, or they'd call and say where they found his body. If he was dead, Ranger thought I'd have to give them a statement about what happened. For now, they were happy to keep us out of it and I was glad simply because that would have kept me in Italy even longer. But I wished there was something I could do to help Marco.

At the hotel, I sat and talked with Walker for a long time, explaining about the method used to change my memories and how they'd tried to do it again.

"Barbaric," he said in disgust. "What kind of people do this?"

"Power hungry, desperate, uncaring. Take your pick."

"Dr. Spreng, you said? I wish I could talk to him, see the machine. I'll do some of my own searching, but let me know if Harry gives you any information on him."

"I will." I hesitated a second and when he looked up from making notes on a little leather bound notepad, I blew out my breath. "There's something else I wanted to tell you." He set the pad down and arched his eyebrow in invitation and I explained about the confrontation Camila and I'd had in my head.

"Absolutely incredible. I can't believe you were able to see it so clearly. Your mind was able to separate the two personalities and protect itself. I'm shocked, but impressed."

"Thank you for coming all this way to help. I know I can be difficult and we didn't get much time to do anything that you intended … but you were here for Ranger and I think he needed that. He trusts you."

He looked down and then back up. "I was happy to do it. I know you may not follow my advice, but I'd definitely recommend therapy to follow up on this experience. I can recommend a few people near Trenton."

I nodded with a slight smile. "I'll think about it."

"What happened is against the odds. You had no therapy, you didn't even know how to get the answers, but your will to survive, to be yourself … I think it says a lot about who you are."

"What, stubborn?" I grinned even though my lip started wobbling. Damn it. I hated getting emotional.

"How about we say 'determined' instead?"

I'd laughed, relieving the tension in my emotional center. "Yeah, determined." Laughing again, I'd hugged him and returned to my room and Ranger.

Now, settled against him, I was a bundle of nerves. I tried not to think about everything. My focus was finding Carlo and I was in the mood to kick Harry's ass. Still, now that the time had come, I was worried about so many things.

First, it was still hard to picture myself in the role of mother. I wasn't that great with babies, or even older kids. Sure, I liked my niece, Lisa, enough. It's hard to resist the charm of a baby, but generally I think the cuteness is false advertising. They look so innocent, but they take over your life.

Second, what were Ranger and I going to do? We'd sort of had a plan before all this happened, but so many things had changed. I wasn't worried about his feelings for me, but his life was in D.C. and I had family and friends in Trenton who'd thought I was dead. To leave when they just got me back again … how would we work it out?

"What are you thinking about?" Ranger asked.

I blinked up at him in surprise. "You mean you don't know?"

His eyes crinkled at the edges. "Not always."

"Mostly Carlo. And my family."

He kissed the top of my head. "We'll get him and deal with the rest later."

"It's not that. Finding him is a must, but …" I looked at him and he waited for me to continue. "This whole being a…" Okay, it was still weird to say the word 'mother' in reference to myself. "Having a kid. It's just…" I shook my head, unable to find the words.

"I know."

I put my head on his shoulder and squeezed my arms tight around his waist. "I wish we'd had the chance to make a choice to be parents instead of being thrown into it like this. Especially like this."

Ranger was silent for so long, I thought he'd let the topic go, but he kissed my head several minutes later and said, "I wonder if we would have made the choice if it had been up to us."

His words made sense. If I'd had a choice in whether or not to become a parent, I probably would have chickened out and never tried it. As it was, I didn't remember the whole scary pregnancy and giving birth thing. All that was left was the baby himself. The hardest part, but maybe I was ready for the challenge now.

"What if I'm bad at it?" It had been my biggest worry all along and it felt good to say it aloud.

"What if I am?"

I'd never considered the possibility of Ranger being bad at anything. I lifted my head and squinted at him in a 'what are you talking about?' expression.

"Babe, I already have one child I never see. I'm not sure what to say to her when we talk. True, Scrog gave us some common ground, but it's still awkward. My idea of guy time is going to the shooting range." A strange look came into his eye and suddenly, I had ESP.

"Ranger, you're not thinking about a 'kid' shooting range, are you?"

He shrugged. "We have extra space on the second floor in the building."

I sat back, my mouth opened in horror.

His lips twitched. "See, you're already good at it."

My eyes narrowed. "You tricked me."

"Not really. It'd be fun." I punched his arm. "Darts, babe, not bullets."

I quirked my mouth in thought. If it were Albert Kloughn, I'd absolutely forbid it. With Ranger and the guys, perhaps a little respect for gun safety and responsibility was in order. And it gave Ranger something to look forward to. "How about we find him first?"

"Good plan."

"And, Ranger, you do realize he's still a baby, right?"

"He'll grow."

…

A couple of naps later, we landed in Newark. There was a flurry of activity as bags and 'equipment' were unloaded from the plane and put into the Rangeman SUVs Ranger had waiting for us on the tarmac.

When I stepped off the plane and into Ranger's arms, it was to a chorus of confusion and loud exclamations. Ram was the first to get out a complete sentence.

"What the hell?"

Hal followed. "Tank, is this for real?"

Someone else asked, "Ranger is dating someone who looks like Stephanie Plum?"

"You asshole, Mitch! That is Stephanie."

"No fucking way, dude. Did someone say Stephanie?"

We were surrounded. At least eight pairs of hands touched me, voices raised, everyone wanting to know what happened and who'd beaten my face. I winced when someone vigorously shook my hand and Ranger had enough.

"Order!" Ranger said. Without hesitation, the men snapped to attention, though their eyes moved between the two of us.

Lester muttered to himself and shook his head, walking toward the SUVs. I glanced at Ranger and saw he was not happy about it. The other guys, clearly confused, held their positions, but Ram was brave enough to speak.

"Ranger? Are you back?"

Ranger was silent for a beat and then said, "I own this company, Ram." He looked at me. "As you can see, Stephanie is back, alive. We'll discuss everything else later."

Alfredo approached our group. "The Signore is ready."

Ranger nodded and turned back to the Rangemen. "We're heading back to the office for a meeting with special guests from Italy. Tank will lead. Stephanie has personal business to handle and I'll be with her this afternoon."

The men looked surprised Ranger wasn't taking control, but didn't question him. He was, after all, still their boss. He broke up the mini meeting and the guys piled into available seats in the vehicles. I moved toward one and Ranger held me back. When they pulled away, I saw that his McLaren had been parked behind them, waiting. He'd kept it.

I looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Tank knows the score. I spoke with Seppe about this during the flight. You have people to see."

"Shouldn't I wait until we handle Harry?"

He shook his head. "Harry's in on this. I'll bet he's banking on the fact that you're going to wake as Stephanie and not remember anything. He'll expect you to come home. We can do everything that needs to be done without tipping him off about the upcoming confrontation or Seppe's involvement."

I breathed a sigh of relief. I'd been feeling guilty about not visiting my parents or my friends. Thinking of friends reminded me. "What about Lula?"

"Tank's telling her when he gets back."

"It's a shame I'll miss that conversation."

Ranger full on smiled and opened the passenger door. "Come on, babe." I kissed him quickly and climbed in. God, I wasn't ready for this. Was I?

Shaky nerves coiled in my stomach all the way to my parents' house. When we pulled up in front, my mother's face appeared in the front door, speculative. I knew she couldn't see me through the tinted glass, but I still wondered about her Stephanie radar. Would I be that way with Carlo?

"Ready?"

I stared at my mother. It seemed wrong that Grandma Mazur's lower gray head wasn't next to hers in the glass pane. A wave of sadness swept over me and I lowered my head, biting my teeth together against the strong sweep of emotion. "So strange not to see Grandma standing there." My voice was all wrong, husky and tight.

He pulled me toward him, kissing the top of my head. "I'm sorry, babe."

"You know," I said with a sniff, "I'm glad I took her with me on that vacation, Ranger. It was our last time together. She loved every minute. I know she could be scary, but I can't regret the way she lived." I looked up at him.

There was a smile on his face, a knowing look that made me realize just how clearly he saw me. He said, "Free."

"Yeah, free."

I took a deep breath and grabbed the handle. "Don't get that pained look on your face when I cry. Just pretend I'm smiling, okay?"

He winced slightly and smiled when I smacked his arm. "Okay."

With my hand on the door, I hesitated and looked at him. "She's going to freak when she sees me. And after that, she's going to freak when she realizes how bad my face looks."

"You're beautiful. Alive and bruised is better than the alternative."

"You're right, but her imagination will go crazy. What will I tell her?"

"As much of the truth as you want without giving her any details about Harry."

I nodded. We had to keep a lid on that for now.

He squeezed my hand and I opened the car door, stepping out onto the sidewalk, staring at my mother.

The Burg was a nosy place. I'd always known that, but to see the neighbors' doors open at the same time that my mother stepped out onto her porch amazed me. People I'd known most of my life stepped out onto their porches to stare at me. I was something of a walking miracle since most people weren't resurrected from the dead. Burg etiquette didn't quite cover this situation, apparently.

My mother came down from the porch and then she was running. Little tittering steps on her toes in her low pumps. A tidal wave of emotion slammed into me at the same moment her arms flew around me. I cried and she cried. We weren't an emotional family, but again, we didn't have much experience with this sort of thing. She scolded me through her tears. I wasn't sure what she was saying, but she was happy to see me, that was clear.

I felt Ranger's presence right behind me, a quiet support, and I was thankful he was here. After a few minutes, my mom and I, as if on cue, both laughed, embarrassed. Mom stepped back, wringing her hands slightly.

"Stephanie, I … well, I, uh, don't have a cake."

This made me laugh. Hard. Soon I was bent over at the waist, laughing harder than I ever remembered laughing in my life. My mother laughed, too. We laughed until we cried again.

"Mom," I said with a slight whimper. Unh! Who knew I'd act like such a baby. "It's good to see you. I'm so sorry."

"I don't know what to say. I," she stopped, a thoughtful expression on her face. "Well, I just never believed you were gone." Maybe there was something to the child radar mothers had after all. Though, I wasn't sure I had it, yet … or if I ever would.

She reached up and cupped my good cheek and spoke softly. "Your grandmother never gave up, either. She never believed, not even when it seemed like the evidence proved you were gone." A tear streaked down her cheek. "I knew I'd know in my heart if you were gone and it never felt that way to me." Her face grew stern. "But you have a lot of explaining to do. And I want to know what happened to your face."

I nodded. "I'll explain everything. Let's go inside." The crowd of neighbors on their porches had grown during our exchange.

When we went in, my mother called my father at the cab company and told him to come home immediately. "Lord knows the Burg grapevine was headed his way. I'd rather have him find out in person."

We waited for 'the talk' until my dad got home. Mom made lemonade and brought out a freshly cut fruit tray. I nibbled on some apple and sipped the sweet beverage while she told me about Grandma's illness. Cancer. She'd had it for years and it hadn't been detected and hadn't affected her spunk. I felt guilty that my death drove that away from her and the disease, held dormant by her indomitable spirit, made quick work of her aged, frail body. It had been a complete surprise to our family, but at least she'd hardly suffered at all. Physically. I was grateful for that.

When dad came in, he stopped in the foyer, staring. I rose from the couch and said hi. The edges of his eyes turned red and he 'harrumphed' then crossed the room, pulling me into a tight hug, and asked where I'd been and what happened to my face. It was hard to see him giving off that depth of emotion. He was a 'kiss your cheek' kind of dad, but I guess coming back from the dead warranted a new level of affection. I clenched my teeth so I wouldn't wince when I raised my arms to circle his neck and give him a kiss on the cheek. I already had a horribly bruised face, no need to tell them about the shoulder wound, too.

We took seats in the living room and I explained everything from the first day I woke up in Paris. I skipped over the Adriano marriage and the fact that Harry was involved. I didn't know how to explain that I'd been married. Mom would have been horrified, even if it wasn't legal because there'd been no Camila. I left out Carlo, too. I couldn't explain about him without bringing up Harry. Besides, when I told them about him, I wanted to do it in person. When I was finished, my mother and father sat, motionless, digesting the information.

A few minutes later, my mother said, "I just don't understand. Is this to do with your being a bounty hunter?"

Ranger leaned forward. "It doesn't seem related to any of Stephanie's cases, so far. When we figure it out, Mrs. Plum, we'll tell you the rest."

She seemed willing to accept his statement, but I could see she was wary.

The front door burst open and Val rushed in, took one look at me, and went back out. I looked at my mother, who sat gaping, staring at the closed front door. A minute later, Val came back into the house. She studied me for a full thirty seconds before quickly rushing over to hug me, teary eyed and a little sniffly.

"Alice Phipps told Marjorie Galanis that Mrs. DelVecchio and Lou Barbara saw you get out of a flashy black car and come into the house with Ma. I thought there was no way it was true because Ma would have called me." She glanced accusingly at mom and continued. "Then I decided she'd be in too much shock to think of it. So I had to come over and see for myself."

She hugged me again and stepped back, blinking suspiciously. "So, where've you been? Oh my God, who did that to your face?" I gave her a shortened version of the story I'd told my parents. She listened and said, "The strangest things happen to you." She almost sounded amazed, but the horrified look on her face belied her tone of voice.

I rolled my eyes. "Well, at least it had nothing to do with my job this time. At least it doesn't seem so."

"You'd better call Mary Lou. She's probably gotten word already." Knowing Mary Lou, I was already on the timer. Out of respect for my family, she'd wait, but only so long.

"We're headed over now," I said, standing. Ranger followed my lead. "We have to get the ball rolling on, uh, reinstating me with the appropriate agencies."

"Of course," my mother said. "I'm—thank you for coming as soon as you could."

"Not a chance I wouldn't," I said quietly.

"Come to dinner tonight," she said, but it was more a plea than a command.

I looked at Ranger, unsure of when we were going to see Harry, and he nodded. "We'll be here," I said. Apparently we had time to come back before the big showdown.

I hugged my family once more and Ranger and I left for Mary Lou's house. She was a more painful experience. She cried and hugged me and cried and carried on, then cried some more. She demanded an explanation and I gave her the same story as my parents. Then she apologized because she was a wreck and explained that she was pregnant again. I wanted so badly to tell her about Carlo then, but I held back.

"God, Steph. It was awful thinking you were dead. I thought of a ton of things I wanted to tell you all the time, and then I'd remember you were … gone." Her eyes turned red again, but then she sat forward, apparently all cried out, and said, "I can tell you're lying when you say you don't know who did it, so spill."

I wasn't surprised. I knew Mary Lou would be the hardest to convince, but I shook my head. "I have to keep you out of the loop for now. I don't want you anywhere near this thing."

"Oh wow, this must be big." Thank God for Mary Lou. She trusted me enough to know I'd tell her every detail of every secret as long as I could. And if not, she'd wait. She'd always been that way.

"It is. Ranger and I have to go, because I want to get back to the land of the living and I don't even have a birth certificate anymore. Not a valid one, anyway." We hugged and Mary Lou teared up again. "I'll come see you when this is over."

"Take care, Steph. It's good to have you back."

I smiled and Ranger, who had been busy texting on his phone while we talked, led me out of the house. I felt better. There were a few more stops on my list, but Lula was next. I didn't actually have to go anywhere to get back into the land of the living legally. Ranger was handling it all. Then I remembered something very important. "The Medical Examiner, Ranger."

He nodded, as if he'd been waiting for me to ask. "Eddie picked him up about thirty minutes ago. Tank and I are going to the PD to talk to him. You'll stay at Rangeman and catch up with Lula."

"Okay." A plan was forming in my head and Ranger shook his head.

"You're not going to go running off to do this yourself, are you?"

"No, but I am going to insist I be involved when Harry is confronted. I deserve to be there. I want to hear it straight from his mouth."

His jaw tightened, but he nodded. "You do have a right to be there. We'll work it out. Somehow."

I nodded, satisfied. For now. I'd spring my plan on them all later when everyone got together to prepare. I felt certain my idea would work.

"You might as well tell me. If we have to change plans at the last minute, it won't be good."

"Fine." I wrinkled my nose and told him what I wanted to do. He listened, unhappy at first, but by the end, he was smiling.

"I think it's good, babe. Tell Lester and Seppe when you get back to the office. It will work." He took my hand and raised it to his lips. "Proud of you, babe."

Now I was happy.