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

A/N: As always, thanks to my readers. I appreciate your support and hope you enjoy this next installment. Thanks to M, Alf, and May for their continued work as betas and for constantly pushing me to think when I write.

Ranger let himself into his apartment on the seventh floor of the Rangeman building and dropped his duffel on the floor. He looked around the clean apartment; the emptiness hung in the air and choked him like a thick fog. It'd been a year since he'd left Trenton; a year since he'd stood in this very spot and hurt the woman he loved, since he'd sent her away instead of telling her the truth. A year had gone by since she'd left town without a trace, angry and hurt.

He placed his hands on the edge of the counter and bowed his head in disgust and self-loathing. He'd had a chance to have Stephanie in his life and he'd thrown it away. His cars, his wealth; none of it had mattered to her. He'd denied her the one thing she truly wanted: his love. Instead, he gave her a lie, the lie he had nothing to give. He'd regretted the words even before he spoke them.

"Babe, where did you go?" The year-long ache in his chest had waned to a dull throb, but it still pained him. He had been able to focus on his mission, but wouldn't allow himself closure over it; he refused to give in without a chance to tell her how he really felt. Unfortunately, she'd taken the opportunity away from him with her disappearance. When he'd stepped into his apartment, the pain exploded inside him; a pain like none he had ever experienced before, a pain that almost dropped him to his knees. He reached up and pressed a fist to his sternum as the memories of Stephanie, which lingered around the apartment, worked their way into his mind. Stephanie at the kitchen island spreading huge globs of cream cheese onto a bagel, on the couch cuddled into his chest watching Ghostbusters, and in his bed, soft and warm, pliant in his hands, and gazing into his eyes with hers so full of love it had terrified him. He closed his eyes at the irony of his life, irony at how his greatest fear had become the idea he'd never see her again.

Lost in his pain, a noise at the door startled him and he whipped around to see Tank against the doorframe with his arms crossed. Ranger scowled at his friend, but Tank held his ground and refused to look away. "You have to let this go for now, man. There's not much you can do until she decides when, or if, she wants to be found." The large man swiped a hand over his bald head in frustration. "From our intel, Stephanie Plum doesn't exist anywhere. We've kept the channels open for any and all signs: credit checks, job applications, DMV records; we've even checked morgues and arrests, no hits of any type."

Ranger sighed and his shoulders slumped, which allowed this man, his friend, to see him in a rare moment of visible weakness. "I still can't believe she left." And she'd most likely never heard his message.

"You already know my opinion on the subject," Tank said and then waved his comment away when Ranger turned to speak. "Forget it. I'm here right now because, somehow, Morelli knows you're back and he's down in the lobby. Says he won't leave until you talk to him."

Ranger rubbed a hand over his face and muttered, "Just what I need." He looked up at his tall companion. "I've been up for over thirty-six hours, I have stitches in twelve places on my body, and some of them are in – painful spots. To get out alive, I had to cross Dante's seven levels of hell; but the eighth level," he laughed humorlessly, "the one I created myself, nearly destroyed me. I felt so guilty about how I treated her and knew I wouldn't have her – that she wouldn't be waiting for me when I got back."

Tank blinked at his friend's uncharacteristic speech and stared, taking in his appearance. He looked almost fragile with heavy-lidded eyes, mouth drawn tight in a semi-permanent grimace, and weight loss. His posture, however, portrayed the biggest change; he looked defeated. "I can put a call in to the chief and let him know what a pain in the ass Morelli has been, but I don't think it will help. He's come around periodically over the past several months and asked for you."

Before Tank's eyes, Ranger, the wounded, transformed into Ranger, the Badass. His shoulders stiffened, his spine straightened, and the killer look returned to his sunken eyes. "I'll take care of it."

Tank shook his head after the fatigued warrior left the apartment. He rolled his eyes up to the heavens, thankful the bottled-up anger inside of Ranger had an outlet other than him. He heard the elevator doors ding closed and went to grab a beer from the fridge. He intended to stay in the apartment until Ranger returned so he could make sure his friend got some much needed sleep. Whether by natural means or Tank's fist, he'd make sure the man slept.

He sat at the kitchen island and enjoyed the first cold swallow of beer when a zap of realization hit him. He'd just sent a pissed off Ranger down to meet up with a livid Morelli. "Shit!" He slammed the bottle down on the counter, spewing foam out the top, and raced to the stairs. His feet thundered down the two flights to the fifth floor. He'd watch the exchange on the monitors and intervene, if necessary.

Ranger exited the elevator in the lobby and his angry, vacant eyes met the cold, enraged stare of Joe Morelli. They sized each other up, shoulders parallel, eyes locked like an Old West showdown. Morelli blinked first, "I want to know what you did with Stephanie."

"Clarify exactly which 'with' you mean." Ranger was pissed off enough at his interruption to toy with the cop. "Do you mean all those times when I asked her to meet with me in the alley? Or when I helped her with the mic position beneath her breast? Or what I did with her when I had her naked beneath me in her bed; when she screamed my name?" He needed a fight and Morelli made an ideal candidate – so what if he primed the pump?

Morelli's eyes went from cold and angry to blood-filled rage in less than a second. "You underhanded, conniving son of a bitch!" He launched himself in Ranger's direction and his heart screamed 'Kill, kill, kill!' while his mind reasoned he'd known all along about their relationship. Which of the two were stronger, he didn't know and didn't care. He wanted his hands around Manoso's neck.

Ranger made no attempt to ward off Joe's advance. He waited until Joe's hands were nearly on his neck and said, "It won't be good for either of us if we fight right now."

The quiet strength of Ranger's words caused Joe to spread his arms wide and drop his hands away as if they had been burned. He lowered them and glared at Ranger. "What. Did. You. Do. With. Stephanie?"

Ranger felt like smirking, but he didn't want to antagonize Morelli anymore than he had, they'd only end up bloody and hurt on the floor. He decided honesty was the best approach. "She came over here around ten the night she left."

Morelli's eyes narrowed. "Ten? She came here after our fight."

"Correct. She told me you demanded her to marry you and she said no." Ranger decided to tread carefully from this point on given the pained look in Joe's eyes, especially since he'd been brilliant enough to incite the man. "We had a short conversation. She got upset with me and left. I grabbed a chopper on the roof fifteen minutes later."

"You had a short conversation? What could you say to piss her off so much that–" Joe's words trailed off and he hooked his thumbs through his belt loops and stared at the floor. "Damn, I'm such an idiot!" Joe started to pace and mumble in Italian. He came to a sudden stop and pinned Ranger with his gaze. "She told you how she felt. She told you she loved you and you, you selfish bastard, you told her – what did you tell her?"

Ranger stared at him for two beats and then sighed almost inaudibly. "I told her I had promised her nothing."

"You're a stupid asshole! You know that? You chased her, strung her along, came between us, and when you finally get the girl, you break her heart!" Joe's voice grew in volume with every word he spoke and now stood in front of Ranger. With a swift movement, he slammed his fist into the tired man's face and knocked him flat.

The elevator doors opened and a huge, angry beast named Tank stormed out and took hold of Morelli's jacket collar. Joe struggled against Tank's hold and curled his lip at Ranger. "You're pathetic. You were a coward when Stephanie came to you and you're a coward now."

Tank tightened his grip and hefted Morelli one-handed off the ground with a loud growl. "Both of you knock it the hell off!" Tank dropped the livid man to the floor and shook his head. "I thought you were smart enough to keep your cool."

Joe looked ready to explode when Ranger's tired voice drifted up from where he sat on the floor. "Leave him alone, Tank. I deserved it." He reached up and swiped away the blood at the corner of his mouth.

Tank held out his hand and pulled Ranger up to his feet. "That why you didn't defend yourself? 'Cause you thought your sorry ass deserved a beating?"

"It did." Ranger turned to Joe and cast him a measured glance. "Freebie to you, Morelli, to get it out of your system. Next time you throw a punch at me, I won't be the one on the ground. Get out of my building."

Joe stared at Ranger for all of thirty seconds and then said in a quiet voice, "You love her."

Too tired to deny the truth, Ranger put his hands on his hips and narrowed his eyes in thought. "She's my life. Never planned it, but it happened."

Joe pursed his lips and counted to ten. He hadn't expected to find this out tonight, but felt fortunate to have heard it. At least he now knew it wasn't his fault Stephanie left town. It took only a moment to decide not to waste any more of his free time on Stephanie Plum. "Fine. She's your problem. Now I know I'm not the bastard who drove her away, my hands are clean. It's up to you now; though honestly, I'm not sure I can wish you luck."

"Fair enough," Ranger said and gave a slight nod of agreement.

Joe adjusted his jacket and zipped it up. "By the way, have someone from your office call me in the morning. We have a line on a skip your guys have tailed for a couple of weeks. I'll go over the details with someone other than you tomorrow." Joe turned on his heel and left through the front door, intent on working damage control with the Burg grapevine. It had slowed down over the past year, but his reputation had taken a downward turn and he planned to reclaim some of it back, tonight if possible.

Tank and Ranger looked at each other. "What the fuck just happened?" Tank asked.

"He needed to take me down a notch, it's been building for years."

"Can you still work with him?"

Ranger turned to watch Morelli swing his leg over the Duc, start it, and take off. "The question is: can he still work with me?" He swung his gaze back to Tank and said, "He's had his say. I'm offline the next three days."

Tank followed Ranger to the elevator and watched as he pressed the buttons for five and seven simultaneously. When the elevator stopped on five, Tank made no move to leave. Ranger cocked an eyebrow at him as if to say 'This is your floor' and Tank pursed his lips and gave a small shake of his head. "Left a good beer waiting on seven," he answered.

"Ella will take care of it."

"Yeah, but why waste a good beer?" Tank accompanied his friend to the seventh floor and followed him inside the apartment. "You need anything?"

"If I do, I'll call my housekeeper – unless you want her job?" Ranger sent Tank a pointed look.

Tank raised his hands in surrender. "Care to join me?"

Ranger walked to the fridge to pull out a beer for himself. He joined Tank at the breakfast bar and swigged the cold brew. As they sat in silence together, Tank thought about how he'd never seen Ranger so dejected before and worried for his friend. He hoped, for Ranger's sake, he learned to cope with Stephanie's absence.

*\/*\/*\/*\/*

Stephanie stared at her face in the mirror and blinked. She didn't look like herself. Tonight's disguise differed wildly from those she wore out in public with Geo and Merc. She narrowed her eyes and played with expressions. Yes, I think I just found Michelle Belle's 'look' and I like it.

She had experimented with different styles of face makeup to hide her identity when she sang, but hadn't liked anything, until tonight. First, she applied her black crystal encrusted false eyelashes and let the glue set. Next, with a steady hand, she lined her eyes with a thick, black line, thinner toward the inner corners and thicker at the outer corners, and then curved the line out and up along the crease to end in a narrow point a half inch past her brow bone. She swept a second black parallel line along the contour of the outer swish to create depth. She traced a bright purple line with an eye shadow pen along the lower outline for the entire length and blended it into the point, careful not to smear. Her upper lids, she painted in a shimmery bronze and fanned it out to meet the point of the swish as well. To finish off her eye makeup, she traced a bright white, glittery line beneath the purple and blended a smudge of bright red over the bronze at the outer corners.

To top off her look, she traced a brown-black brow liner pencil out from her brow to extend it to the length of the swish, and then curved it upward to follow the same contour. The effect was very Cleopatra, sort of catty and mystical – and stunning. Black, purple, bronze, and red, all tastefully combined with the bright emerald of her tinted contacts. How strange to see her blue eyes absent, but even stranger to see the sleek lines and dramatic makeup transform her face from Stephanie Plum to Michelle Belle.

With care, she applied the reusable 'cheek stencil' Geo's boyfriend, Lucio, had created for her. It came in extremely handy for Geo to have a professional stage makeup artist as a boyfriend. Lucio had produced some easy ways for Stephanie to change her appearance without cosmetic surgery, her favorite being the stencil. With the sticky silicone decal in place, she took the liquid bronze eye shadow brush and traced the swirly design until all of the bar skin inside was covered. Finished, she removed the 'stencil' and set the look with a light dust of shimmery translucent powder. She swiped on a glittery red lipstick, brushed on a layer of clear gloss, and then cleaned her hands off with a Handi-Wipe.

Not unlike KISS, they had determined it best for the entire band to conceal their identities with facial makeup to help preserve Stephanie's anonymity. The guys all had various designs painted on their faces around their eyes or down their cheeks in black paint. Geo even lined his eyes with black eyeliner and painted his nails black that made Stephanie laugh the first time she saw it. The others were less conspicuous, but their main goal was to keep Stephanie hidden in plain sight.

She didn't want anyone from her past to recognize her and come, or not come, to find her. She wasn't sure she could handle it if her identity was revealed and Ranger didn't come looking. She also didn't know if she wanted to see him. Geo and Merc concealed their faces so they wouldn't be easily recognizable out in public when they were with Stephanie, even though she wore a wig and sunglasses when outside their apartment. It turned out to be almost pointless because everyone who had seen them perform recognized Geo and Merc. Admittedly, they were unforgettable guys: tall, built, handsome, perfect smiles – the list continued. In those instances, Stephanie pretended to be a girlfriend and draped herself over Merc's arm while he talked with those who stopped them. She'd found she was nearly invisible to other females who wanted to talk to them, much as she had been in the company of the Merry Men.

Nearly finished with her preparations, Stephanie covered her pinned up wild brown curls with a waist-length black wig with subtle red highlights, custom dyed by Lucio's friend and stylist, Arnaud Benoit. The rest of her outfit took less time to assemble. She'd already pulled on the black low-rise cotton Bermuda shorts, black leather belt with tiny chrome studs, and deep purple halter top which ended two inches above her natural waistline. On her legs, she wore black tights with silver dragons imprinted on the outside of her calves. Combined together, the ensemble left a few inches of pale, tight skin visible in her midriff. Down one shoulder and arm was etched a long, winding temporary tattoo in black, purple, and red. It was an abstract design with lines weaving and curling in and out of each other. Iggy had applied it for her using more of Lucio's stencils. She wiggled her feet down into her Christian Louboutin Nitoinimoi Bandage Ankle Boots, her favorite part of the outfit.

Stephanie straightened the wig and pushed a few pins through the netting into her real hair to keep it in place. She spared a full-bodied glance at the total effect in the mirror nailed to the back of the door, and checked first the front and then the back. An involuntary flinch shook her when her upper arm peeked through the wig and exposed the one true permanent change she'd made to her body. In the center of her arm, right over the scar left by Abruzzi, a skin modification peeked out through the silky black strands. She'd had branded to her arm the image of a Japanese throwing star, with spiky arrowhead points, which appeared to be embedded in her flesh sideways. A tattoo artist had made it look real by inking the effect of open flesh around the disc's edge and drew out small trickles of blood from the wound. For dramatic effect, a few droplets of blood were scattered onto the disc itself. The raised disc was tattooed in a shimmery silver ink and in the center of the disc curved along the rounded center were the words: Love Denied. When Stephanie met with the tattoo artist, she had given him three words to describe the emotions she wanted the design to portray: injured, refused, and alone. He had captured her feelings perfectly.

Merc and Geo burst through the door dressed and ready for the stage in skin tight t-shirts and even tighter skinny jeans. The t-shirt Merc wore with his black jeans was black with a faded white dragon design elongated across his lower torso and wrapped around his waist. Geo combined a pair of black jeans with a red t-shirt adorned with a faded white angel whose wings outstretched and spread across his back. Both men wore thick black belts around their waists Sketchers on their feet; Merc's red, Geo's bright green. Stephanie knew the rest of the band wore attire along the same lines.

Both men approached her and kissed her unpainted cheek. "Nice, Belle. Did your eyelashes wink at me?" Merc asked while his hand lingered at her waist.

Stephanie grinned at Merc. "Crystals. Nice touch with the lip piercing. Thaaat's not real, is it?"

Merc laughed and the thick silver ring through the center of his bottom lip glinted in the overhead light. "Yep! Got it done yesterday, but we haven't seen you in a couple of days since we went to visit Uncle Larry in New York."

Geo grinned. "Total fake! Costume jewelry! He's too much of a wimp to do it for real."

Stephanie narrowed her eyes at Geo and studied the conch piercings in each ear, which consisted of thick silver barbells. "Um. Those do look real, though," she said and flicked her index finger against the adornment.

"Damn it! Don't touch it! They're real and hurt like a bitch." Geo flinched away from her and then had to dance away from Merc, who made a move to flick him from the other side. "Hands off, bro. They seriously sting today!"

"Oh my God! You two are nuts! At least you won't be able to trick me with your identities now; not that you can anymore." Stephanie laughed and walked over to hug her boys. They'd been together in the hotel suite for the past year since the night they'd picked her up on the side of the Interstate outside Trenton. "Did you have a nice couple of days off?"

"It was great." Merc snuggled close and gave her a squeeze, his lips a hairsbreadth away from hers. "We missed you, though."

Unable to take the deep, cleansing breath she so desperately needed, Stephanie stared into his eyes and said a little breathlessly, "Ah well, I enjoyed all the sleep I got without you rowdy boys around." Merc gave her a slow, sexy smile and his lids lowered fractionally while his eyes studied her face. Then he drew in a slow breath through his nostrils, stepped back, and went to the mirror to brush Lucio's special powder on his facial stencil to set it.

Stephanie, a quick study on the acoustic, had soon moved to electric and, shortly after, had joined in rehearsals with their band, Naked Soul. Since she'd devoted the majority of her time in the past year to practice, she'd surprisingly excelled with the instrument and the hard work paid off. She not only played lead guitar, but also sang lead vocals and alternate vocals on most of the songs, though Merc still took over lead guitar on the more difficult songs since she was far from virtuoso level. The brothers had been excited to discover her strong mezzo voice perfectly fit the Alternative Metal style they preferred.

Her admission to the band came about because, after three months of guitar lessons, she felt brave one night and showed them some of the 'messing around' she'd done on her own. She figured out that moving a few fingers here and there on the fret, as well as plucking some fingers on the strings while strumming, created a pleasant transition between the chords. A blush still crept into her cheeks when she remembered Merc's pleased look and excited response. "Belle! You're ready to start on the electric if you want!"

Stephanie had agreed and the rest fell into place. Eight months after her first electric lesson and three months after she'd started rehearsing with them as a new band member, she joined the band on stage for her debut performance. Though it had been two weeks ago, her stomach still quaked when they went out on stage to perform. They covered many songs, including one of her favorites: Hero by Skillet. Stephanie's creative spirit awakened at some point in the past month and, when alone, she worked on a song she had chorded for the two months prior. It was almost finished and she'd planned to share it with the guys soon, when the right moment presented itself and she could swallow her fear.

The door opened and Gus, the entertainment manager for The Closter, motioned them out for show time. Stephanie checked her appearance one last time and noted that her nails, long and painted blood red, were in perfect shape, never the case when she'd been a bounty hunter.

A voice came over the loudspeaker and announced: You've waited all night to hear them and here they are! Give it up for 'Naked Soul' featuring Michelle Belle!

The band entered the stage together and took their positions. Iggy, short for Ignacio, started off the set with a wild drum solo and Geo joined in with a heavy base line. Stephanie followed after a few bars on her white and glittery purple Gibson Flying V in a solo that received catcalls and shouts for more. As the last notes of her solo faded away, they launched their set. With the crowd roaring and pumping their fists, the set of seven upbeat songs had everyone revved up for a night of fun.

They finished their last song, Hero, on a loud, staccato chord and then took a break to cool off and have some refreshments, namely some shots and water to relieve their parched throats. Their second set came later in the night, but they always took time to mingle and hang out with the steadily increasing crowd of fans.

"You are pure magic, Chelle Belle," their keyboardist, Ryan, said as he hooked an arm around her neck and planted a sloppy kiss on her cheek, careful to avoid her stage makeup.

Stephanie grinned up at Ryan and wrapped an arm around his waist to give him a squeeze. "Thanks, Ry." She opened her mouth to speak again when a familiar face caught her eye. Her features locked down and she turned around to down her shot of tequila.

A sexy voice beside her ear asked, "You okay, Belle?" and a warm hand caressed the bare skin on her lower back. She glanced up at Merc and gave a quick nod. "Funny, but even with makeup on your face, I can tell you're bothered about something."

She gave him a light glare and said in a hushed tone, "Don't look now, but see the guy over in the corner at the table nursing his beer?"

Merc grinned at her, gave the room a casual glance, and then leaned down. "You mean the guy with the shaggy hair and the busty woman draped on his arm?"

Curious, Stephanie glanced around and saw Joe Morelli beside the table on his feet with his arm around the waist of none other than – Connie Rosolli? What the hell? She looked great! She'd dropped the extra thirty pounds that had always seemed to stick to her short frame. The weight loss hadn't left her any less busty and she was now killer in a slim grey pencil skirt and tight red sweater with a black belt around her waist. On her feet were four inch black FMPs and she still stood almost a head shorter than Joe, who smiled into her face and caressed her cheek. The woman had also toned down the overdone Burg makeup and hair for a soft and sensual new look. Wow!

Stephanie felt a slight pang of remorse and hurried to squash it. It had been right to end her relationship with Joe and she was happy for him, but she was even happier for Connie. Great for both of them! She had a new life now and had no regrets. Well, almost. Save for the one named Ranger, another matter completely.

She looked down into her empty shot glass before they noticed her surveillance and nodded to Merc. "Yep, he's the one, the guy I might have married."

"The cop?" It had taken several months, but Stephanie had finally opened up to Geo and Merc about Ranger and Joe and the night she left. Of course, they'd been supportive and appropriately outraged.

"The same."

"Looks like he recovered well," Geo said from her other side.

"We were over the night I left, why shouldn't he move on?" Stephanie gave Geo a wistful smile. "And, if you knew his girlfriend like I do, you'd be supremely happy for her."

"Well, get ready to be supremely happy. She's headed this way," Merc whispered. His lips brushed against the shell of her ear and her stomach fluttered.

Stephanie struggled to breathe around the panic in her chest. She could fool a lot of people, but fool Connie? She didn't have long to consider since the woman now stood right behind her. By the time she felt the tap on her shoulder, she'd hitched her panic into manageable hysteria. She took a deep breath and then turned and gave her old friend a crooked smile she hoped looked nothing like Stephanie Plum and, in her best Brooklyn accent, said, "Hey, nice to meet you. Michelle Belle, and these two are Merc and Geo." She'd lowered her voice to a husky purr and watched Connie's reaction with sharp eyes. Luckily, Joe hadn't joined Connie or Stephanie would have fainted from the stress.

Connie smiled and stuck out her hand to each of them. "Pleasure to meet you. I saw your band at Club Mileau in Philly last month and you were excellent. Since then, I've wanted to meet you and tell you I love your voice and the way you play."

Stephanie shook Connie's hand and kept her crooked smile plastered on her face. She tightened up one side of her mouth in a different manner from her norm, which made her feel a little like Elvis. With a quick prayer of hope to pull it off, she responded, "I love to meet fans. We have the best fans, don't we, boys?" She glanced up at Merc and Geo, who fought to keep their lips from a display of amusement.

"The absolute best!" Merc smiled and extended his hand to Connie, who took it and gave a firm shake. "I'm Merc, this is Geo." Connie turned to shake Geo's hand with a polite smile.

Connie turned to Stephanie and a slight frown formed between her brows as she considered her for a moment. "You remind me of someone, but I can't put my finger on it."

Stephanie's pulse started a wild drumbeat in her neck and she tipped her head forward, in a shy, humble look, which was not insincere. "Really? How many women do you know who wear makeup like this around town?"

Connie laughed and relaxed. "I've told my friend Lula about you, but she's so busy with her boyfriend and classes, she couldn't come tonight. I'll drag her to one of your concerts someday, though she prefers a more hip hop, rap beat with loud bass. But I think she'd like your music well enough."

Lula! Stephanie felt another pang of sadness in her chest. She missed her friends and, if she'd thought they could keep her life a secret, she'd have contacted them to let them know she was safe and happy. She knew a certain someone would drag the information out of them if there was a hint they knew anything at all, if he was looking. She wondered if he even cared what had happened to her after their disastrous conversation.

She fought the urge to ask about Lula's new life. Instead, she gave Connie another lop-sided grin and said without thought, "We're performing at ladies night at Spike in Princeton in two weeks on Saturday. Drag her there for a night out and, who knows, maybe we'll make a convert of her." Stephanie winked for dramatic effect.

"What a great idea! We haven't had a girls' night since–" Connie trailed off and a look of sadness worked its way over her face for a second, but she replaced it with a shaky smile. "Well, it's been over a year. Lula and I have another friend who'd love a night out. Besides, my boyfriend is headed out of town on business and it will be a great distraction for me."

Stephanie swallowed the lump which had formed in her throat at the word 'boyfriend' and smiled. "What's he do? A business tycoon or something?" Or an undercover cop, perhaps?

Connie shook her head and turned slightly to look back at Joe, who gave her his seductive smile from where he sat at his table. "No, he's – well, let's just say he's great at what he does."

Stephanie nodded and remembered the times Joe had to leave at the drop of a hat and not given her any warning. The fact Connie knew he was leaving proved Stephanie had been right to walk away. He'd hardly ever shared valuable information with her and usually dropped the bomb on her the day, sometimes only minutes before he left, similar to Ranger. How sad that neither of the men in her life had enough consideration or trust in her to tell her about themselves, what they did, or where they went. She gave a wan smile to Connie. "Well, if he's as good as you say, I'm sure he'll be back in your arms soon."

Connie beamed a smile and said, "Yeah, he is and you're right." She turned around to look at Joe who had kept a steady eye on Connie with his bedroom eyes. "Well, it was a pleasure to meet you. I'll come see you play in a couple of weeks with the girls!"

Stephanie smiled back and watched Connie cross the room to Joe. When she reached the table, he stood and swept her into a warm embrace and kissed her, effectively closing that chapter of Stephanie's life. Keep moving forward.

"We're up in six, Belle," Geo said with a gentle nudge.

"Great, I'm in the mood for some soulful ballads." Stephanie stood and walked backstage with the band to ready their instruments and prepare for the final eight songs. Her mind wandered to the Burg and her friends. One person from her old life flitted through her mind, someone she desperately wanted to contact. She decided to find a way to do it without revealing her whereabouts to Trenton at large.