Chapter Five

The next morning, I parked in front of Bethany's office at five minutes to nine o'clock. She was waiting for me, so we went directly into her office.

"How are you feeling, Stephanie?" Bethany asked as I sat down in the armchair opposite hers.

"I'm doing okay, I think. I've been working a lot on my training. I started the journal you recommended."

"That's great, Stephanie. Has anything happened this week you'd like to talk about?"

I thought for a moment. "No, everything this week has been pretty good, though it's been a bit slow at work, so I'm worried about money."

Bethany nodded sympathetically. "Is that something you want to discuss?"

"Not really," I replied.

"Okay, then. I'd like to talk about your relationship with your mother, if that's okay."

"Okay. What about her?" I asked, warily.

"Have you talked to her this week?"

"She called and invited, no wait, commanded me to come to dinner on Sunday."

"Did you agree to go?"

"I didn't talk to her. She left a message, but I haven't called her back," I said.

"Are you planning on going to her house for dinner on Sunday?"

I chuckled bitterly. "I have to, don't I?"

"No, you don't have to. You're an adult with your own life. You don't have to let anyone treat you badly."

"It's my mother, though."

"Right. It's your mother. That means she should be supportive and make you feel loved, not disliked," she advised me.

"So, what do I do?" I asked plaintively.

Bethany smiled gently. "Stop trying to please her. Set boundaries and enforce them. And make your exit if she doesn't respect that. This is your life, and you are entitled to live it in the way you want to, and to do what makes you feel good."

I sat and thought about that for a few minutes. It's my life. I get to choose how I live it and do what makes me feel good. Finally, I asked her, "and that's it? I just tell her I will not tolerate it and leave if she doesn't respect that?"

"That's it. It's easy to say, it's much harder to put into practice."

We talked for the remainder of the hour about my mother and our relationship. I told her about my dad, Grandma Mazur and Valerie, and how they were better than my mom but didn't stand up for me, not really. Bethany helped me decide on the boundaries I wanted to establish and what would happen if any of my family crossed my boundaries. I felt a lot better about the dinner on Sunday after I left her office.

I drove to the bonds office after my appointment and found Connie and Lula eating doughnuts and chatting happily. I grabbed a doughnut from the box and sat next to Lula on the sofa.

"Hey girl, how you doing?" Connie asked me.

"Good. Any files for me?"

"No one in the lower range is skipping right now. All I have are the high bonds for RangeMan," she informed me.

"Ugh. How am I supposed to pay my rent if no one's skipping?" I blew out a frustrated sigh.

"You could always go work for Batman," Lula suggested.

I frowned. "I hate begging him for a job."

"Girl, he's asked you so many times to come work full-time for him. I'm glad you haven't gone, because I would miss hunting down the criminals with you, but I don't think Batman would hire you because he felt sorry for you," she said.

"Well, if it doesn't pick up here very soon, I might take him up on the offer." Maybe I should talk to Tank before Ranger comes back.

After a few more minutes of chatting with the girls, I was getting restless.

"Lula, want to come to the gym with me today?"

"Sure, white girl, I'm cool with that. Meet you there?"

"I'll see you there in one hour."

Lula and I ran on the treadmill, worked on the weight machines and swam for thirty minutes. We were both exhausted by the end of it, but I was feeling really proud of myself. I was really starting to see the results in my body, and I was up to five miles on the treadmill now.

We said goodbye at the door, and I drove to RangeMan. While I was on the treadmill, I made up my mind to talk to Tank about a job. Part of my quest to improve my life means I need to avoid starving.

"Hey, Tank," I said sunnily.

"Hey Bomber, how are you today? I didn't think I'd see you until Monday," he said with a smirk.

"Funny. I wanted to ask you something. Do you…" I took a deep breath. "Do you have any job openings right now that I'd be qualified for?"

"Bomber, you want to come work for RangeMan?"

I smiled slightly. "It's really slow at Vinnie's and I need a job. I was hoping you'd have enough work for me to do searches full-time."

Tank leaned back in his chair and eyed me thoughtfully. "Bomber, if you want a job, we can always use your skills here. But I think it'd be wasted doing searches all day."

"What do you mean? I thought you guys said I was okay at searches."

"You are. You are excellent at them. But you have other skills and I'd like to utilize them more effectively."

"How so?" I asked.

"I'd like to create a custom position for you and cross-train you in several different areas. If it turns out you are particularly well-suited in one aspect, then we can tailor the job to your strengths."

"You really think I'd do well in other areas?"

"I know so. Come in on Monday at nine o'clock, and make sure you are carrying. I think you know the rules for full-time employees, but just in case I will go over it again." He paused, then continued. "You must be carrying at all times while you're working, including when you're just in the building. I know you have been recently, but even so I have to say it. You are required to pass fitness standards quarterly. I know you're working out at the Y, so I won't force you to work out here in our gym as long as you pass standards. We'll continue our weapons lessons, and you're learning the other things like takedown, B&E and self-defense. The only sticking point is self-defense. I'd really prefer if RangeMan took over your training in that area."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because Ranger would kill me if anything ever happened to you, and I value my life. I'd just like to make sure you're as good as you possibly could be," he explained with a small grin.

I rolled my eyes. "Fine. But I'm continuing at the Y for working out, I really like it there."

"Deal."

"I really appreciate this, Tank."

"Bomber, I'm happy you're coming to work with us. I've been trying to get Ranger to hire you for a while now. I think you're going to do well here."

With that, I made my leave and headed home. On Saturday morning, I went to the bonds office and let Connie know I was quitting. She was sad to see me go, but I promised I'd come back to visit, and if I ever did any apprehensions as part of RangeMan. I didn't think Vinnie would miss me, but Lula and I would still hang out, I was sure.

I spent the rest of the day preparing for dinner tomorrow at my parents'. I was dreading it, but I wanted a better life and having a better relationship with my mother is a part of that.

Ranger's POV – Sunday morning

I stepped off the plane and walked across the tarmac to the GMC Yukon waiting nearby. Tank stood next to the SUV.

"Yo."

"Hey man, how's it going?" Tank greeted.

"Good. Contract's over. Didn't renew."

Tank raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were going to re-up again?"

"I got very close to getting killed this time. I'm getting too old for this shit. I'm going to focus on RangeMan."

I tossed my bag into the luggage area and walked around to the passenger seat. Tank hopped into the driver's seat and started the engine.

I settled into what babe calls my zone as we started moving towards Trenton.

"Hey, Bossman?"

"Yeah?" I answered.

"I hired someone while you were gone. She starts Monday morning."

I turned to look at him and waited for him to continue.

"I hired Steph full-time. She's not getting enough work from Vinnie, and she came and asked me about any openings on Friday."

"How is she?" I asked.

"You wouldn't recognize her, man. She's been working out, training in self-defense and weapons, carrying a gun, and learning apprehension techniques and B&E skills. She's looking phenomenal and she seems happy."

I smiled inwardly. That's my babe. "Morelli?"

"Moved to D.C. FBI now. Word has it he wanted her to come with him, get married and have kids but she turned him down flat."

"When did that happen?"

"Few weeks ago," he replied.

The rest of the ride was silent as Tank fell silent and I was lost in my thoughts. Stephanie was permanently off with the cop and working for me. I could get used to this.

A/N: I was going to include Ranger's and Steph's reunion in this chapter, but I wanted Ranger to hear a little about Steph's transformation from Tank before he actually sees her. I thought this was a good place to end.

Also, thank you for your reviews. They mean so much to me, and I get so excited every time I see a new one!